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Ethical considerations referred to in child health research published in leading nursing journals: 2015-2019
Yanni Wu1, Michelle Howarth2, Chunlan Zhou1
1Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China.
Insights
Ethical reporting in child health research has improved, but consistent transparency regarding informed consent and ethical approval is still needed. This study analyzed reporting in leading journals.
Area of Science:
- Pediatrics
- Bioethics
- Research Integrity
Background:
- Child health research involves complex ethical considerations.
- Improved reporting of ethical processes is crucial for enhancing research integrity in pediatric studies.
Purpose of the Study:
- To assess the reporting of ethical considerations, specifically informed consent and ethical approval, in child health research.
- To analyze trends in ethical reporting within leading nursing and pediatric journals.
Main Methods:
- A critical appraisal of 851 child health research papers published between 2015 and 2019 in 10 nursing and 2 pediatric journals.
- Focused on the documentation of informed consent and research ethics committee approval.
Main Results:
- While most prospective studies mentioned informed consent (79.9%), only 55.2% reported written consent. Overall, 87.9% reported ethics committee approval.
- Funded studies and prospective research demonstrated significantly higher rates of reporting ethical approval and informed consent.
- Rates of child assent varied widely, ranging from 29.6% to 66.3% across different age groups.
Conclusions:
- Child health research shows progress in reporting ethical review and approval.
- However, transparent and consistent reporting of ethical procedures remains a challenge.
- Further improvements are necessary to ensure full ethical compliance and transparency in pediatric research publications.
Background:
Child health research comprises complex ethical considerations. Understanding the extent to which the ethical process is reported in child health research is needed to improve reporting.
Aims:
To identify reportage of ethical considerations in child health research in leading nursing and paediatric journals.
Methods:
All child health research published between 2015 and 2019 in 10 leading nursing journals and two paediatric journals were retrieved and critically appraised for the reportage of informed consent and ethical approval.
Results:
Eight hundred and fifty-one child health research papers were included. Although 544 (79.9%) of the prospective studies mentioned informed consent, only 300 (55.2%) reported that written informed consent was obtained from the participants. Overall, 748 (87.9%) of child health research papers noted obtaining research ethics committee approval. Articles that mentioned financial support were significantly more likely to report informed consent and ethical approval than unfunded studies (all P < 0.001). Prospective studies showed higher rates of reportage of ethical approval compared to retrospective studies (P = 0.027). Rates of child consent (assent) obtained in different age groups of children ranged from 29.6% to 66.3%.
Conclusion:
Despite improvements in the reportage of ethical review and approval processes in child health research, consistent and transparent reports are still lacking.
