Brighton and Sussex Centre for Global Health Research , Department of Global Health and Infection, Brighton and Sussex Medical School, Brighton, UK.
Armauer Hansen Research Institute, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Trans R Soc Trop Med Hyg. 2021 Sep 3;115(9):1026-1038. doi: 10.1093/trstmh/trab003.
Undertaking research and attaining informed consent can be challenging when there is political unrest and community mistrust. Rapid ethical appraisal (REA) is a tool that uses qualitative methods to explore sociocultural issues that may affect the ethical conduct of research.
We used REA in northeast Ethiopia shortly following a period of unrest, during which violence against researchers occurred, to assess stakeholder perceptions of research, researchers and the informed consent process. We held 32 in-depth interviews and 2 focus group discussions.
Most community members had little awareness about podoconiosis or healthcare research. Convincing the community to donate blood for research is challenging due to association with HIV testing. The attack on researchers was mainly motivated by the community's mistrust of their intentions against the background of a volatile political situation. Social media contributed to the spread of misinformation. Lack of community engagement was also a key contributing factor.
Using REA, we identified potential barriers to the informed consent process, participant recruitment for data and specimen collection and the smooth conduct of research. Researchers should assess existing conditions in the study area and engage with the community to increase awareness prior to commencing their research activities.
当存在政治动荡和社区不信任时，进行研究和获得知情同意可能具有挑战性。快速伦理评估（REA）是一种使用定性方法来探讨可能影响研究伦理行为的社会文化问题的工具。
我们在埃塞俄比亚东北部发生动荡之后不久使用 REA 进行评估，在此期间发生了针对研究人员的暴力事件，以评估利益相关者对研究、研究人员和知情同意过程的看法。我们进行了 32 次深入访谈和 2 次焦点小组讨论。
大多数社区成员对疣状足病或医疗保健研究知之甚少。由于与 HIV 检测相关联，说服社区为研究捐血具有挑战性。对研究人员的攻击主要是由于社区对他们在动荡的政治局势下的意图的不信任。社交媒体助长了错误信息的传播。社区参与度低也是一个关键因素。
通过使用 REA，我们确定了知情同意过程、数据和标本收集的参与者招募以及研究顺利进行的潜在障碍。研究人员应在开展研究活动之前，评估研究区域的现有情况并与社区进行接触，以提高认识。
