J Korean Soc Emerg Med.  2009 Feb;20(1):134-137.

A Study on Bioethical Consideration to Prospective Clinical Research Papers published in Journal of Korean Society of Emergency Medicine

• Lee SS
• Park HY
• Jo IJ
• Jeong YK
• Shin BS
• Choe BI
• Song HG

Abstract

PURPOSE
There is increasing concern about ethical conduct of human research in the field of medicine. The purpose of this study was to assess the ethical review process by institutional review boards for human research articles published in the journal of Korean Society of Emergency Medicine.
METHODS
We reviewed human research papers published in the journal of Korean Society of Emergency Medicine from the 1st edition, 1990 to the 6th edition, 2006. A checklist was used to review the articles.
RESULTS
The total number of prospective clinical research paper was 250. Among them, there were 63 papers (25.2%) in which the obtaining of informed consent was described in the article. Only two studies (0.8%) published in the journal were noted to have IRB approval. Invasive techniques were employed in 134 studies (53.6%). Among the 134, only 22 (16.4%) mentioned that informed consent taken was given during the study. Studies which may have involved discrimination totaled 21 (8.4%), and the number of studies that may have violated the patients' right to privacy was 20 (8%). The number of studies that may have a conflict of interest but was not declared was 12 (4.8%).
CONCLUSION
There should be greater concern about the ethical conduct of research in studies with human research subjects in the journal of the Korean Society of Emergency Medicine.

Keyword

Bioethics; Informed consent; Emergency medicine; IRB; Helsinki Declaration

MeSH Terms

Bioethics
Checklist
Conflict of Interest
Discrimination (Psychology)
Emergencies
Emergency Medicine
Ethical Review
Ethics Committees, Research
Helsinki Declaration
Humans
Informed Consent
Patient Rights
Privacy
Research Subjects