PHYSICAL ACTIVITY RESEARCH: ANALYSIS OF THE AGENDA FUNDED BY THE MINISTRY OF HEALTH

Abstract

The National Health Research Priorities Agenda (ANPPS) aims to align the research funded by the Ministry of Health (MoH) with the population’s health priorities. Therefore, the ANPPS can bring research on physical activity (PA) closer to health policies. This study aimed to analyze MoH-funded research on PA with respect to: a) the temporal evolution of the number of studies, total funding, and funding per study; b) the thematic axes; c) the ANPPS sub-agendas. This is a time series study, conducted through a search in the 'Pesquisa Saúde' repository, covering the period from 2002 to 2023.. A total of 234 studies were funded, with a deflated total investment of approximately BRL 60.0 million, corresponding to an average investment of BRL 256.5 thousand per study. Fluctuations were observed in both the number of studies and the funding, with a downward trend in the number of studies, total funding, and funding per study. The “health consequences” axis received the largest number of studies and the greatest amount of funding. The sub-agenda with the highest number of studies was non-communicable chronic diseases, while epidemiology received the highest amount of funding. It is necessary to increase the funding for PA research, particularly in the policy axis.