• About the College
• Membership
• News and Events
• Courses & Events
• GP Training
• Revalidation
• Professional Development
• Services
• Publications
• Clinical and Research
  • Clinical Innovation & Research Centre
    • Clinical Priorities
    • Clinical Champions
    • Clinical Champion BMI Events
    • Research
      • What's New?
      • Current Issues
      • Research Group
      • Research Units
      • Faculty Research Convenors
      • Research Paper of the Year
        • Procedure for applying
        • Further Details
      • Scientific Foundation Board
      • Resources
      • Newsletters
      • Higher Degrees
      • Research Governance
      • Use of Patient Data For Research
      • User Involvement in Research
      • CIRC Research Projects
    • Safeguarding Children Toolkit
    • PwSI
    • Expert Resource
    • Out of Hours Audit Toolkit
    • Funding Bulletin
    • End of Life Care Strategy
    • Cancer Audit
    • Schizophrenia audit
  • Clinical Guidelines (NCGC)
  • RSC
  • Journal Watch
  • H1N1 Pandemic Flu
• Get Involved
• Patient Information
• Contact Us

2007 Winning Paper

The 2007 RCGP Merck Sharp & Dohme Limited Research paper of the year award was awarded to the paper Early treatment with Prednisolone or Acyclovir in Bell’s palsy.

The winners addressed the question of treatment for Bell’s palsy, an alarming idiopathic weakness of the facial nerve from which up to 30% of patients make an incomplete recovery. Treatment to date has been with steroids or antiviral drugs, or both, but the evidence base for their use is weak. This is an uncommon condition, and the multidisciplinary research team developed a detailed factorial study design randomising 551 patients within 3 days of symptom onset to Prednisolone, Acyclovir, both drugs or placebo.  Their findings, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, were that early treatment with Prednisolone significantly improves the chances of complete recovery. There was no evidence of benefit from Acyclovir, either alone or in addition to Prednisolone. For those given steroids, 83% had recovered at 3 months, and 94% at 9 months.

Therapeutic studies of uncommon acute conditions are particularly difficult to undertake, and the authors succeeded with a very rigorous study, giving clinicians reliable guidance for the first time on how Bell’s palsy should be managed. This is particularly important for a condition that usually is presented first to the GP, who has to make an immediate decision on management.  The paper is a shining example of the level of scientific excellence that can be achieved by general practice research in the UK.

Read the winning paper here

The 2007 Research Paper of the Year winning authors with RCGP and MSD representatives

2007 Highly Commended Paper

The rules of the award mean that the panel may, in exceptional circumstances, highly commend a paper. In recognition of the scientific quality and the complexity of execution, this year’s panel chose to commend the paper Warfarin versus aspirin for stroke prevention in an elderly community population with atrial fibrillation (the Birmingham Atrial Fibrillation Treatment of the Aged Study, BAFTA): a randomised controlled trial.  This paper, published in the Lancet, demonstrated the value of anticoagulation therapy for people over the age of 75 who have atrial fibrillation; a condition often identified for the first time in primary care. In managing the care of an increasingly aged population, this is a key message for practising clinicians.

circ@rcgp.org.uk

0203 170 8231