Sharing with More Caring: Coordinating and Improving the Ethical Governance of Data and Biomaterials Obtained from...

Research on complex health conditions such as neurodevelopmental disorders increasingly relies on large-scale research and clinical studies that would benefit from data sharing initiatives. Organizations that share data stand to maximize the efficiency of invested research dollars, expedite research findings, minimize the burden on the patient community, and increase citation rates of publications associated with the data.

This study examined ethics and governance information on websites of databases involving neurodevelopmental disorders to determine the availability of information on key factors crucial for comprehension of, and trust and participation in such initiatives.

We identified relevant databases identified using online keyword searches. Two researchers reviewed each of the websites and identified thematic content using principles from grounded theory. The content for each organization was interrogated using the gap analysis method.

Sixteen websites from data sharing organizations met our inclusion criteria. Information about types of data and tissues stored, data access requirements and procedures, and protections for confidentiality were significantly addressed by data sharing organizations. However, special considerations for minors (absent from 63%), controls to check if data and tissues are being submitted (absent from 81%), disaster recovery plans (absent from 81%), and discussions of incidental findings (absent from 88%) emerged as major gaps in thematic website content. When present, content pertaining to special considerations for youth, along with other ethics guidelines and requirements, were scattered throughout the websites or available only from associated documents accessed through live links.

The complexities of sharing data acquired from children and adolescents will only increase with advances in genomic and neuro science. Our findings suggest that there is a need to improve the consistency, depth and accessibility of governance and policies on which these collaborations can lean specifically for vulnerable young populations.