Biomedical research is a necessary subject and enjoys social prestige.
Aims: To ascertain the views and expectations of health care professionals on research, analysing the influence of their academic training and professional level.
Design and methods: An anonymous questionnaire was distributed to physicians and qualified nurses working in a, tertiary hospital, seven primary care centres and two nursing homes (health care centres for the elderly).
Results: Cronbach's coefficient alpha=0.817. Response rate: 64% (432 out of 682 questionnaires distributed). Women: 71%. Mean age: 37 years. Mean years involved in health care: 14 years. 79% of people considered research as a part of their job, although in practice only 43% were doing it. Overall participation in activities was: Conferences (71%), education (42%), publications (34%) and ongoing projects (17%). Physicians dedicated more off duty time (37%) to research than qualified nurses (CI95%: 28 to 46%). The majority of physicians having their doctoral thesis would like to carry out research activities, and 84% did so in their free time and 74% had active research projects in progress. They identified physician workload as the main factor that impedes performing research. Proposals to increase research activities were focused on improving resources.
Conclusions: The majority of health care professionals expressed a great motivation. The perception of research varies depending upon professional qualification. Physicians having their doctoral thesis were more involved and had a different perception of research, being more critical about available resources. Overall research perception was more positive among those with less academic training, as well as among those centres with less research activities.