• Ogilvie Thom, Gerben Keijzers, Suzanne Davies, David McD Taylor, Jonathan Knott, and Paul M Middleton.
• Department of Emergency Medicine, Nambour General Hospital, Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia; School of Medicine, University of Queensland, Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia.
• Emerg Med Australas. 2014 Feb 1;26(1):28-33.

IntroductionThere is limited evidence regarding clinical research priorities in emergency medicine outside of some special interest groups. The ACEM Clinical Trials Group undertook a consensus meeting with the aim of developing a reproducible weighting matrix for assessing clinical research priorities.MethodsA session at the ACEM annual scientific meeting was dedicated to this meeting. Results from a survey of the ACEM researcher database were presented, along with a proposed weighting matrix. After discussion and adjustment, consensus was achieved on the matrix.ResultsIt was agreed that the following criteria be used in the matrix: research category and sub-category priority ranking from the ACEM researcher database survey, frequency of presentation of potentially eligible participants, the level of pre-existing evidence regarding the proposed research question and the likely clinical impact of the research. Each criterion was given a weighting, with clinical impact given the heaviest weighting. The weighting matrix was subsequently applied to the list of research questions that resulted from the researcher database survey and a list of research priorities determined.ConclusionThe weighting matrix allows reproducible comparison of research questions. The resultant list of research priorities will act as a guide for the ACEM Clinical Trials Group in determining future projects.© 2014 Australasian College for Emergency Medicine and Australasian Society for Emergency Medicine.

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