Brawner Bridgette M, Sutton Madeline Y
University of Pennsylvania, School of Nursing, Center for Health Equity Research and Center for Global Women's Health.
Morehouse School of Medicine, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology.
Ethics Behav. 2018;28(7):544-559. doi: 10.1080/10508422.2017.1365303.
Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs) significantly burden youth aged 13-24 years in the United States. Directly engaging youth in sexual health research is a public health priority and urgently needed to develop targeted, youth-friendly, and culturally relevant HIV/STI prevention interventions. Controversies arise, however, regarding informed assent and consent, parental permission or consent, and the definition of "child"/"minor" as it relates to medical, legal and ethical issues. In this paper, we describe challenges in the human subjects review processes that were undertaken before beginning an HIV/STI prevention research project with sexually active youth in an urban setting. These findings provide important contextual information to facilitate youth sexual health research and care, and Institutional Review Board approval processes with fewer delays.
人类免疫缺陷病毒(HIV)和其他性传播感染(STIs)给美国13至24岁的年轻人带来了沉重负担。让年轻人直接参与性健康研究是一项公共卫生重点工作,对于制定有针对性、适合年轻人且符合文化背景的HIV/STIs预防干预措施来说,这一工作十分迫切且必要。然而,在知情同意、家长许可或同意,以及与医学、法律和伦理问题相关的“儿童”/“未成年人”定义方面存在争议。在本文中,我们描述了在城市环境中针对性活跃青年开展HIV/STIs预防研究项目之前,在人体研究审查过程中遇到的挑战。这些研究结果提供了重要的背景信息,有助于促进青年人性健康研究与护理,以及减少机构审查委员会批准过程中的延误。