Barriers and Facilitators of Research Finding Utilization in Healthcare: A Scoping Review.

Background: We aimed to identify and classify barriers and facilitators of implementation of research finding in healthcare.

Methods: A scoping review was conducted using Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses Extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR). Articles were extracted from online databases. The initial search was implemented on Jun, 2022, and updated until end of 2023. Two independent reviewers screened, selected, and extracted the data. Data were synthesized using thematic analysis.

Results: Overall, 32 studies from 3,435 documents met the inclusion criteria. From which 60 barriers and 45 facilitators were identified. The main barriers and facilitators extracted were grouped into eight components: Organization, Collaboration to knowledge utilization, Researcher role, Methodology and technical aspect of research, Management, Cultural and social determinants, Training, and Government and community. Organizational barriers and facilitators were the most concerning with insufficient attention, methodology and technical aspects of research were salient barriers, and the other components had similar roles.

Conclusion: This study directly addresses a gap in implementing the research findings in organizations. The government would benefit from knowledge implementation with respect to evidence utilization. Additionally, implementation knowledge was not transferred to healthcare practice to a sufficient extent, thus restricting the systematic use of implementation knowledge in practice.