• Jonathan Stokes, Peter Bower, Susan M Smith, Bruce Guthrie, Thomas Blakeman, Jose M Valderas, and Chris Salisbury.
• MRC/CSO Social and Public Health Sciences Unit, School of Health and Wellbeing, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK; NIHR School for Primary Care Research, Centre for Primary Care and Health Services Research, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK.
• Br J Gen Pract. 2024 Apr 1; 74 (741): e258e263e258-e263.

BackgroundMultiple long-term conditions (MLTC), also known as multimorbidity, has been identified as a priority research topic globally. Research priorities from the perspectives of patients and research funders have been described. Although most care for MLTC is delivered in primary care, the priorities of academic primary care have not been identified.AimTo identify and prioritise the academic primary care research agenda for MLTC.Design And SettingThis was a three-phase study with primary care MLTC researchers from the UK and other high-income countries.MethodThe study consisted of: an open-ended survey question, a face-to-face workshop to elaborate questions with researchers from the UK and Ireland, and a two-round Delphi consensus survey with international multimorbidity researchers.ResultsTwenty-five primary care researchers responded to the initial open-ended survey and generated 84 potential research questions. In the subsequent workshop discussion (n = 18 participants), this list was reduced to 31 questions. The longlist of 31 research questions was included in round 1 of the Delphi; 27 of the 50 (54%) round 1 invitees and 24 of the 27 (89%) round 2 invitees took part in the Delphi. Ten questions reached final consensus. These questions focused broadly on addressing the complexity of the patient group with development of new models of care for multimorbidity, and methods and data development.ConclusionThese high-priority research questions offer funders and researchers a basis on which to build future grant calls and research plans. Addressing complexity in this research is needed to inform improvements in systems of care and for disease prevention.© The Authors.

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