How long does it take new medical research to be adopted by real-world physicians?

Conventional wisdom holds that it takes 17 years from medical innovation to adoption in the real-world. However, with advances in information technology, perhaps adoption timelines have shortened. A paper by DiCicca et al. (2024) examines how new clinical trial evidence on breech births impact practice patterns. Specifically, they note that:

Using the United States Birth Certificate Records from 1995 to 2010, we employ a difference-in-differences estimator for C-sections, low Apgar, and low birth weight measures. We find that the reversal of a multi-site, high profile, randomized control trial on the appropriate delivery of term breech births, the Term Breech Trial, led to a 15%–23% decline in C-sections for such births at a time when the overall trend in C-sections was rising. We find our largest estimated effects amongst traditionally disadvantaged groups (i.e., non-white, and minimal education). However, we do not find that such a change in practice had significant impacts on infant health. Contrary to prior studies, we find that physicians updated their beliefs quickly, and do indeed adjust to new medical research, particularly young physicians, prior to mandatory policy or professional guidelines.

You can read the full study here.