Research groups of health evaluation in Brazil: an overview of collaborative networks

ABSTRACT The objective of the study was to characterize the research groups recorded in the Health Evaluation thematic area of the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (NCSTD) directory, categorized per certification, year of inception, region and state of the country, institution and research line. By means of data retrieved from NCSTD' health evaluation area research groups from 1976 to 2017, we identified 385 groups. Of these, 30 groups could not be analyzed due to their exclusion from the database (6,7%), non-existence (0.8%) or double entry (0.3%). Descriptive statistics applied to the 355 groups revealed that they are present in all regions of the country, although very unequally distributed. There is a higher concentration in the Southeast region (42.8%), at the São Paulo - Rio de Janeiro axis, being the main voids located in the states of Amapá, Roraima and Rondônia. The most frequent research line respected 'evaluation and monitoring of health interventions'. The research groups' depiction confirmed the well-known Brazilian inequality in the production of knowledge, as well as the need both to deepen research on collaborative research networks under evaluation and to promote research and training.