Reporting ethical protections in physical therapy research

Efforts to make physical therapy more evidence based have increased demand for human participants, raising concerns for their safety and welfare. This study examined how often research articles in physical therapy journals report basic ethical protections.

We carried out a retrospective audit of research articles in 6 physical therapy journals between 1996 and 2001.

Of 806 articles reviewed, 48% documented both research ethics committee approval and informed consent. Articles reporting clinical interventions had the highest reported rate (64%) of both protections. Articles reporting qualitative methods, chart reviews, and case reports had the lowest rates of documentation of both requirements: 30%, 17%, and 11%, respectively. Reported rates of both requirements in vulnerable populations were 55% for children, 48% for students, and 33% for employees. Twenty-six percent of articles included confidentiality assurances. Case reports were most likely and chart reviews were least likely to mention confidentiality: 88% and 8%, respectively.

There is no uniform editorial policy among physical therapy journals for reporting basic ethical requirements. Physical therapy journals should standardize ethical protections and make documentation of compliance a prerequisite of publication.