Application of the rapid ethical assessment approach to enhance the ethical conduct of longitudinal population based female cancer research in an urban setting in Ethiopia

Compliance with research ethics in epidemiological studies targeted to conflict-affected areas in Western Ethiopia: validity of informed consent (VIC) by information comprehension and voluntariness (ICV)

BACKGROUND

The conduct of research is critical to advancing human health. However, there are issues of ethical concern specific to the design and conduct of research in conflict settings. Conflict-affected countries often lack strong platform to support technical guidance and monitoring of research ethics, which may lead to the use of divergent ethical standards some of which are poorly elaborated and loosely enforced. Despite the growing concern about ethical issues in research, there is a dearth of information about ethical compliance in conflict areas. Valid and ethically informed decision-making is a premier pact with research participants in settling possible ethical issues before commencing the research, which is ensured by gaining informed consent from prospective participants of the research.

AIMS

This research aimed to explore compliance with research ethics and consent validity in community-based epidemiological research conducted previously.

METHODS

Research participants were recruited in the western part of Ethiopia in three districts subjected to conflicts. A community-based cross-sectional study design was utilized, and 338 residents were enrolled as study participants. All participants had previously been enrolled as research participants in epidemiological studies. Data was collected using a questionnaire that was pilot-tested before the commencement of the main data collection. The questionnaire focused on participants' experiences of the informed consent process followed when they were recruited for an epidemiological study and covered themes such as essential information provided, level of comprehension, and voluntarism of consent.

RESULTS

Over half of the study participants, 176 (52%), were not provided with essential information before consenting. And 135 (40%) of them did not comprehend the information provided to them. One hundred and ninety (56%) participants freely and voluntarily agreed to partake in one of these epidemiological studies, with over a quarter (97; 28.7%) of them reporting they were subjected to undue influence. Written consent was obtained from only 32 (9.4%) of the participants.

Bioethical Implications of Vulnerability and Politics for Healthcare in Ethiopia and The Ways Forward

Vulnerability and politics are among the relevant and key topics of discussion in the Ethiopian healthcare context. Attempts by the formal bioethics structure in Ethiopia to deliberate on ethical issues relating to vulnerability and politics in healthcare have been limited, even though the informal analysis of bioethical issues has been present in traditional Ethiopian communities. This is reflected in religion, social values, and local moral underpinnings. Thus, the aim of this paper is to discuss the bioethical implications of vulnerability and politics for healthcare in Ethiopia and to suggest possible ways forward. First, we will briefly introduce what has been done to develop bioethics as a field in Ethiopia and what gaps remain concerning its implementation in healthcare practice. This will give a context for our second and main task - analyzing the healthcare challenges in relation to vulnerability and politics and discussing their bioethical implications. In doing so, and since these two concepts are intrinsically broad, we demarcate their scope by focusing on specific issues such as poverty, gender, health governance, and armed conflicts. Lastly, we provide suggestions for the ways forward.

Research on Improving Radiotherapy Accuracy Based on Image-Guided Radiotherapy

With the changes of people's diet and lifestyle, the number of patients with abdominal malignant tumors is increasing year by year. In order to analyze the effectiveness of cone-beam CT (CBCT) enhancement technology in improving the accuracy of radiotherapy for clinical malignant tumors, 92 patients with abdominal malignant tumor are divided into the control group and the CBCT radiotherapy group. The experimental results show that precise radiotherapy technology can promote the recovery of the immune function of patients with abdominal malignant tumors, improve the effect of treatment, and decrease the incidence of complications.

Patients' Perspectives about Lifestyle Behaviors and Health in the Context of Family Medicine: A Cross-Sectional Study in Portugal

Lifestyle interventions are recognized as essential in the prevention and treatment of non-communicable diseases. Previous studies have shown that Portuguese patients tend to give more importance to diagnostic and laboratory tests than to lifestyle measures, and seem unaware that behavioral risks are the main modifiable risk factors. The study aimed to analyze patients’ perspectives about lifestyle behaviors and health in the context of family medicine in Portugal. A population-based cross-sectional study was carried out in Portugal (the mainland). A total of 900 Portuguese patients aged ≥20 years, representative of the population, were surveyed using face-to-face questionnaires. Participants were selected by the random route method. Descriptive statistics and non-parametric tests were performed to evaluate differences between the personal beliefs and the personal behavior self-assessment, as well as between the level of importance given to the family doctor to address health behaviors and the reported approach implemented by the family doctor, and its association with bio-demographic variables. The results indicate that the vast majority of this Portuguese cohort has informed beliefs regarding lifestyle behaviors, tends to overestimate their own behavior self-assessment, and strongly agrees that it is important that their family doctor asks/advises on these lifestyle behaviors, although the proportion of those who totally agree that their family doctor usually does this is significantly lower. Differences concerning bio-demographic variables were found. Future research directions should focus on the politics, economics, and policy aspects that may have an impact in this area. It will also be important to understand more broadly the relationships between lifestyle behaviors and clinical, physical, and sociodemographic variables.

Enhancing the ethical conduct of a longitudinal cluster-randomized trial of psychosocial stimulation intervention for children with complicated severe acute malnutrition through Rapid Ethical Assessment: a qualitative study

Background

Informed consent is a universally accepted precondition for scientific researches involving human participants. However, various factors influence the process of obtaining authentic informed consent, and researchers particularly working in resource-poor countries often face considerable difficulties in implementing the universally recommended procedures for obtaining informed consent. We have conducted this Rapid Ethical Assessment (REA) to accommodate the local cultural norms and to understand the relevant ethical issues in the Silti community before the conduct of a cluster-randomized controlled trial.

Methods

This REA was conducted in two purposively selected Woredas/Districts and Worabe Town administration of Silti Zone. Data were collected using in-depth interviews and focus group discussions. Purposive and convenient sampling techniques were used to select respondents. Five in-depth interviews and 15 Focus Group Discussions were conducted in the Amharic language. The collected data was transcribed, translated, and analyzed using a thematic approach.

Result

Most of the community members never heard about research and therapeutic misconception was common. In the area, the permission of people working in the formal and informal community administration is essential before approaching individuals. The male head of the household should also be involved in the decision before individual household members participate in research. Furthermore, sensitizing the community using public and religious gatherings was suggested before individual recruitment. In the consent process, delivering selected information particularly the purpose and benefits of the research was emphasized and the tendency of preferring verbal consent was documented despite the willingness of the individuals to sign on the consent form. Local health workers were identified as appropriate personnel to communicate information and the procedures of the research were found to be acceptable. However, the value of small incentives was suggested to motivate potential participants. Finally, involving all concerned stakeholders and respecting the cultural norm of the community was emphasized.

Conclusion

Through REA, we understand the research awareness of the community, their expectation, and the cultural norms relevant to the ethical conduct of research. It enabled us to devise culturally sensitive and scientifically sound strategies to secure authentic informed consent. The process of conducting REA was found to be feasible, quick, and efficient.

The Problem-Solving Decision-Making scale-translation and validation for the Portuguese language: a cross-sectional study

OBJECTIVES

To translate and validate the Problem-Solving Decision-Making scale instrument into the Portuguese language.

DESIGN

Cross-sectional study.

SETTING PARTICIPANTS

The Problem-Solving Decision-Making scale was translated from English to Portuguese and then back-translated to obtain a final version. The questionnaire was then applied face-to-face from January to March 2019 in a representative sample of the Portuguese population (n=301 people aged 20 years or more) to validate the Problem-Solving Decision-Making scale in a Portuguese population.

OUTCOMES

Principal component analysis and Cronbach's alpha.

RESULTS

Principal component analysis was used to evaluate the validity of the internal structure of the scale. The results identified two components: problem-solving and decision-making with an explained variance of 65.9%. For internal consistency, three different techniques were used and applied to the two components. All of the items have very good internal consistency (problem-solving Cronbach's alpha=0.931 and decision-making Cronbach's alpha=0.951).

CONCLUSIONS

The validation of the Portuguese scale agreed well with the existing literature. The scale can be divided into two components: the problem-solving component and the decision-making component. The translated scale demonstrated good internal consistency and can therefore be used in future studies.

Time intervals experienced between first symptom recognition and pathologic diagnosis of breast cancer in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia: a cross-sectional study

OBJECTIVES

This study aimed to estimate the magnitude of patient and diagnostic delays and associated factors among women with breast cancer in Addis Ababa.

DESIGN

This is a cross-sectional study.

SETTINGS AND PARTICIPANTS

All women newly diagnosed with breast cancer in seven major healthcare facilities in Addis Ababa (n=441) were included in the study.

MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES

Patient interval (time from recognition of first symptom to medical consultation) and diagnostic interval (time from first consultation to diagnosis). Patient intervals >90 days and diagnostic intervals >30 days were considered delays, and associated factors were determined using multivariable Poisson regressions with robust variance.

RESULTS

Thirty-six percent (95% CI [31.1%, 40.3%]) of the patients had patient intervals of >90 days, and 69% (95% CI [64.6%, 73.3%]) of the patients had diagnostic intervals of >30 days. Diagnostic interval exceeded 1 year for 18% of patients. Ninety-five percent of the patients detected the first symptoms of breast cancer by themselves, with breast lump (78.0%) as the most common first symptom. Only 8.0% were concerned about cancer initially, with most attributing their symptoms to other factors. In the multivariable analysis, using traditional medicine before consultation was significantly associated with increased prevalence of patient delay (adjusted prevalence ratio (PR) = 2.13, 95% CI [1.68, 2.71]). First consultation at health centres (adjusted PR = 1.19, 95% CI [1.02, 1.39]) and visiting ≥4 facilities (adjusted PR = 1.24, 95% CI [1.10, 1.40]) were associated with higher prevalence of diagnostic delay. However, progression of symptoms before consultation (adjusted PR = 0.73, 95% CI [0.60, 0.90]) was associated with decreased prevalence of diagnostic delay.

CONCLUSIONS

Patients with breast cancer in Addis Ababa have prolonged patient and diagnostic intervals. These underscore the need for public health programme to increase knowledge about breast cancer symptoms and the importance of early presentation and early diagnosis among the general public and healthcare providers.

Breast and cervical cancer patients' experience in Addis Ababa city, Ethiopia: a follow-up study protocol

INTRODUCTION

Cancer is an emerging public health problem in Ethiopia, with breast and cervical cancers accounting for over half of all newly diagnosed cancers in women. The majority of women with breast and cervical cancer are diagnosed at late stage of the disease and most patients do not receive care consistent with global standards. However, little is known about the health-seeking behaviours, barriers to early detection and treatment, patient-reported outcomes, financial burden and survival of women with breast and cervical cancer in the country. Therefore, this study aims to document the experience of women with breast and cervical cancer from recognition of symptoms to diagnosis, treatment and survivorship/mortality in Addis Ababa city, Ethiopia.

METHODS AND ANALYSIS

A prospective follow-up study using mixed methods (both quantitative and qualitative) will be employed. All women newly diagnosed with breast and cervical cancer from 1 January, 2017 to 30 June 2018 in Addis Ababa will be included in the study. Interviewer-administered questionnaires will be used to collect information about medical consultations after recognition of symptoms, health-seeking behaviours, treatment received, barriers to early detection and treatment, and survivorship care. In-depth interview will be conducted on purposefully selected women with breast and cervical cancer. The primary outcomes of the study are time intervals (patient and diagnostic waiting times), stage at diagnosis and survival. Multivariable analysis will be employed to determine the contributions of independent variables on the outcomes of interest. HRs with 95% CIs will be calculated for time-to-event outcomes. Qualitative data will be analysed using thematic analysis.

ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION

This protocol is ethically approved by Institutional Review Board of Addis Ababa University. Verbal informed consent will be obtained from study participants. Results will be disseminated in international peer-reviewed journals and presented in relevant conferences.