Is Tuberculosis Scientific Research Aligned with National Research Priorities? A Bibliometric Analysis of Peruvian Scientific Production

Background: Focusing scientific research on the health needs of the population could ensure the development of context-specific solutions. In Peru, prioritization has been proposed as a strategy to address this issue. However, the alignment of Peruvian scientific production on tuberculosis (TB) with the national TB research priorities (TBprios) has not been evaluated. Methods: We conducted a bibliometric analysis in Web of Science, Scopus, LILACS, SciELO, and PubMed to identify original articles focused on TB, with at least one author with Peruvian affiliation. Then, we reviewed the general objectives of each study included and verified their alignment with any TBprios. Results: We found that 73% of Peruvian scientific articles were aligned with some of the national research priorities on TB, especially those related to epidemiology and diagnostics, although no increased trends in alignment were identified across the study period. In addition, in an exploratory analysis we found that fewer than 20% of aligned studies reported receiving national funding. Conclusion: Substantial alignment was observed between the research outputs identified and TBprios. Nonetheless, this high level of alignment could also reflect the significance of TB within the social and public health agenda of Peru.