Research ethics review during the COVID-19 pandemic: An international study
Friday, October 13, 2023
5:00 PM – 6:15 PM ET
Location: Chasseur (Third Floor)
We examined how ethics review committees (ERCs) responded to the challenges faced during the COVID-19 pandemic to balance a rapid turnaround and flexibility in the face of uncertainty with a rigorous, high-quality evaluation of research. To this end, we conducted an anonymous, cross-sectional, global online survey of ERC chairs (or their delegates) who participated in the review of COVID-19-related research protocols during the COVID-19 pandemic. Survey respondents were affiliated with diverse types of entities and organizations from countries in each of the World Health Organization regions.
Of 137 survey participants from 41 countries, 94 (70%) fulfilled our inclusion criteria (54% female and 46% male), most from low- and middle-income countries. Few ERCs had pre-existing internal policies to address operations during public health emergencies (PHEs), but almost half used existing external guidelines. Most ERCs modified existing procedures or designed and implemented new ones but did not evaluate the success of these changes, with participants overwhelmingly endorsing permanently implementing several of them. Few ERCs added new members, but non-member experts were consulted. The number of protocols reviewed increased during the pandemic, with COVID-19-related studies being prioritized. Most reviews took less than five weeks. Additional support for the operation of their ERCs during the pandemic was generally unavailable. One-third of respondents reported external pressure on their ERCs to approve or reject specific COVID-19-related protocols.
Our findings may may help inform the approaches that ERCs should take during future PHEs to ensure reviews are provided rapidly and thoroughly despite having to confront daunting challenges.
Fabio Salamanca-Buentello – Lunenfeld Tanenbaum Research Institute – Sinai Health; Ross Upshur – Dalla Lana School of Public Health – University of Toronto