Department of Paediatrics, Child and Youth Health, The University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand.
Int J Tuberc Lung Dis. 2010 Aug;14(8):1059-65.
Centres in Phases I and III of the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood (ISAAC) programme used the method of consent (passive or active) required by local ethics committees.
Retrospectively, relationships between achieved response rates and method of consent for 13-14 and 6-7-year-olds (adolescents and children, respectively), were examined between phases and between English and non-English language centres.
Information was obtained for 113 of 115 centres for adolescents and 72/72 centres for children. Both age groups: most centres using passive consent achieved high response rates (>80% adolescents and >70% children). English language centres using active consent showed a larger decrease in response rate. Adolescents: seven centres changed from passive consent in Phase I to active consent in Phase III (median decrease of 13%), with five centres showing lower response rates (as low as 34%). Children: no centre changed consent method between phases. Centres using active consent had lower median response rates (lowest response rate 45%).
The requirement for active consent for population school-based questionnaire studies can impact negatively on response rates, particularly English language centres, thus adversely affecting the validity of the data. Ethics committees need to consider this issue carefully.
国际儿童哮喘和过敏研究（ISAAC）计划的 I 期和 III 期中心采用了当地伦理委员会要求的同意方法（被动或主动）。
回顾性地，分别在各阶段以及英语和非英语语言中心之间，检查了 13-14 岁和 6-7 岁儿童（青少年和儿童）的已实现应答率与同意方法之间的关系。
获得了 115 个青少年中心中的 113 个和 72 个儿童中心中的 72 个信息。两个年龄组：大多数采用被动同意的中心都获得了高应答率（>80%的青少年和>70%的儿童）。使用主动同意的英语语言中心的应答率下降幅度更大。青少年：七个中心在 III 期从 I 期的被动同意改为主动同意（中位数下降 13%），其中五个中心的应答率较低（低至 34%）。儿童：在各阶段中心之间没有更改同意方法。使用主动同意的中心的中位应答率较低（低至 45%）。
对于基于人群的学校问卷调查研究，主动同意的要求可能会对应答率产生负面影响，特别是英语语言中心，从而对数据的有效性产生不利影响。伦理委员会需要仔细考虑这个问题。
