Analysis of the evaluation and approval time of research protocols submitted to the Research Committees of the Instituto Nacional de Pediatria.

OBJECTIVE: Describe the times associated with the evaluation and ruling process of the research protocols submitted to the Committees on research for the health of Instituto Nacional de Pediatria. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A comparative, longitudinal, observational, retrospective study was carried out where the information from the protocols submitted for evaluation in the period from January to December 2022 was analyzed. The following information was collected: titles of the protocols, dates of receipt by committees, evaluation dates, types of opinions, dates of sending the opinion and dates of the researcher's response. RESULTS: 88 protocols were evaluated, of which 67 (76.1%) were approved; of these, the majority were approved on their second or third review (55.2% and 34.3% respectively, total 89.5%). The median number of days between the submission of the protocols and their approval was 47 days (RI: 30-87), of which 21 days (RI: 16-32) correspond to Committees and 25 days (RI: 8-56) to the researchers. CONCLUSIONS: The approval time of a research protocol at the institution analyzed was a shared responsibility between the committees and the principal investigator. Important consideration when establishing institutional support programs for research.