Global trends in psycho-oncology research investments 2016-2020: a content analysis
Global trends in psycho-oncology research investments 2016-2020: a content analysis
Objective: an estimated one-third of cancer patients experience a clinically significant psychological disorder, however it is unclear to what extent this is reflected in research funding. To address this a systematic analysis the allocation of psycho-oncology research funding globally between 2016 and 2020 was conducted.
Methods: a global dataset of 66,388 cancer research awards, from 2016 to 2020 inclusive and totalling $24.5 billion USD was assembled from public and philanthropic funders. Each award was previously categorised by cancer site type and research theme, including psychosocial research and these awards were further sub-categorised for this analysis.
Results: there was $523m of funding awarded for psychological research across 1122 studies: 2.14% of all cancer research funding during this period ($24.5 billion). Median funding per award was $97,473 (IQR $36,864 - $453,051). Within psychological research, mental health received most funding ($174m, 33.5% of psychological funding). Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) focused research was the specific psychological support with the highest proportion of funding at $14 million. By country of funder, the USA provided most investment ($375.5 m, 71.8%).
Conclusions: psycho-oncology research received relatively little funding, for example, when compared with pre-clinical cancer research. There needs to be a shift from pre-clinical science to research that benefits cancer patients in the shorter-term. Low- and middle-income countries, and ethnic minorities in higher-income settings, were underrepresented despite having a large cancer burden, indicating inequities that need to be addressed.
cancer, funding, oncology, psychiatry, psychology
Conti, Isabella
25ed48f5-f217-4fd6-a4b5-acf5c3910b69
Davidson, Mitchell
bb8d3a05-f9fd-428b-8531-03f2ef94b375
Cutress, Ramsey I.
68ae4f86-e8cf-411f-a335-cdba51797406
McIntosh, Stuart A.
f0657180-0242-4127-bbcd-9a60970129bd
Head, Michael G.
67ce0afc-2fc3-47f4-acf2-8794d27ce69c
January 2024
Conti, Isabella
25ed48f5-f217-4fd6-a4b5-acf5c3910b69
Davidson, Mitchell
bb8d3a05-f9fd-428b-8531-03f2ef94b375
Cutress, Ramsey I.
68ae4f86-e8cf-411f-a335-cdba51797406
McIntosh, Stuart A.
f0657180-0242-4127-bbcd-9a60970129bd
Head, Michael G.
67ce0afc-2fc3-47f4-acf2-8794d27ce69c
Conti, Isabella, Davidson, Mitchell, Cutress, Ramsey I., McIntosh, Stuart A. and Head, Michael G.
(2024)
Global trends in psycho-oncology research investments 2016-2020: a content analysis.
Psycho-Oncology, 33 (1), [e6273].
(doi:10.1002/pon.6273).
Abstract
Objective: an estimated one-third of cancer patients experience a clinically significant psychological disorder, however it is unclear to what extent this is reflected in research funding. To address this a systematic analysis the allocation of psycho-oncology research funding globally between 2016 and 2020 was conducted.
Methods: a global dataset of 66,388 cancer research awards, from 2016 to 2020 inclusive and totalling $24.5 billion USD was assembled from public and philanthropic funders. Each award was previously categorised by cancer site type and research theme, including psychosocial research and these awards were further sub-categorised for this analysis.
Results: there was $523m of funding awarded for psychological research across 1122 studies: 2.14% of all cancer research funding during this period ($24.5 billion). Median funding per award was $97,473 (IQR $36,864 - $453,051). Within psychological research, mental health received most funding ($174m, 33.5% of psychological funding). Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) focused research was the specific psychological support with the highest proportion of funding at $14 million. By country of funder, the USA provided most investment ($375.5 m, 71.8%).
Conclusions: psycho-oncology research received relatively little funding, for example, when compared with pre-clinical cancer research. There needs to be a shift from pre-clinical science to research that benefits cancer patients in the shorter-term. Low- and middle-income countries, and ethnic minorities in higher-income settings, were underrepresented despite having a large cancer burden, indicating inequities that need to be addressed.
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Psycho-Oncology - 2023 - Conti - Global trends in psycho‐oncology research investments 2016 2020 A content analysis
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Accepted/In Press date: 7 December 2023
Published date: January 2024
Additional Information:
Funding Information:
We would like to thank the following people who assisted in the extraction of the main dataset without which this study would not be possible: Fareeha Alam, Laura Adams, Ian Boon, Jonathan Callaghan, Ellen Copson, Victoria Carson, Helen Fitzgerald, Ashram Gautam, Christopher M Jones, Saffron Kargbo, Gokul Lakshmipathy, Hannah Maguire, Kathryn McFerran, Amatta Mirandari, Natasha Moore, Ross Moore, Aidan Murray, Lydia Newman, Stephen D Robinson, Ashvina Segaran, Chin Nam Soong, Andrew Walker, and Kusal Wijayaweera.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 The Authors. Psycho-Oncology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
Keywords:
cancer, funding, oncology, psychiatry, psychology
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 485918
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/485918
ISSN: 1057-9249
PURE UUID: 948e812e-6b12-49aa-9d05-84408fa8ec12
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Date deposited: 04 Jan 2024 04:21
Last modified: 18 Mar 2024 03:31
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Author:
Isabella Conti
Author:
Mitchell Davidson
Author:
Stuart A. McIntosh
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