05/03/2015
Dear Colleagues,
Many thanks for responding to our call for information on obesity-related research conducted in Scotland over the last decade. We are now coming to the end of our data collection period and would like to give you the chance to review the information we’ve extracted about your work and that of other researchers.
To facilitate this process, we’ve created an abbreviated version of the database which contains a summary of all the data collected thus far: Obesity Review collected data
If you would like to point out any errors or omissions in this list, please get in touch with us by 10th March. Many thanks, again, for your participation and assistance in bringing this piece of work together on a short timeline.
Warm regards,
The Scottish Landscape Obesity Review Team.
Due to planned revisions to the Obesity Route Map (ORM) proposed by the Scottish Government, NHS Health Scotland in conjunction with the Scottish Collaboration for Public Health Research and Policy (SCPHRP) are undertaking a landscape review of all the existing, ongoing and planned obesity research that has and /or is being conducted on Scottish populations within the last decade. It is hoped that this research will help identify important knowledge and action gaps regarding obesity prevalence, treatment and prevention in Scotland while also leading to potential collaboration opportunities that could help move Scotland’s obesity research agenda forward in a more progressive way.
We are interested in hearing from people involved in obesity research in Scotland within the last decade, and we would be interested in obtaining the details of any such research to include in our review. Specifically, we are interested in any primary research which adds to our understanding of obesity in Scotland. This may include anything from descriptive studies which outline the nature of obesity to intervention studies (primary, secondary and tertiary prevention). Intervention studies must have included some form of health outcome evaluation. Both published and unpublished research will be included.
Data collection: It was decided that the most efficient way for us to collect accurate data on published, unpublished, ongoing and planned obesity research would be to request that people send us a list of grants and publications in which they have been involved, for example by sending us a CV (alternatively, they can just send us an email with any information they think may be useful). We will then extract the relevant research projects, add them to our database, and give individuals the opportunity to check what we have extracted for accuracy before it is included in the review.
Data protection: Any data provided will be treated confidentially in keeping with the terms of the Data Protection Act 1998. Only the research team will have access to raw data, and our database will be saved on a password-protected computer within the SCPHRP secure offices. After the accuracy of the data we extract has been verified, we will then delete any CVs and any other documents from our computers. While we will be collecting potentially sensitive data on project funders and funding amounts, this data will be analysed collectively and reported at an aggregate level in the final review, therefore identification of the funding awarded to any individual or project will not be possible.
Consent: You are under no obligation provide us with any information, and participation is 100% voluntary. By sending us your CV or any other documentation, you will be providing your consent for us to use the information contained within it for the purposes of this obesity landscape review.
Please reply to ObesityReview@ed.ac.uk.
We look forward to hearing from you.
