Attitudes of the Japanese public and doctors towards use of archived information and samples without informed consent: preliminary findings based on focus group interviews.
BACKGROUND
The purpose of this study is to explore laypersons' attitudes toward the use of archived (existing) materials such as medical records and biological samples and to compare them with the attitudes of physicians who are involved in medical research.


METHODS
Three focus group interviews were conducted, in which seven Japanese male members of the general public, seven female members of the general public and seven physicians participated.


RESULTS
It was revealed that the lay public expressed diverse attitudes towards the use of archived information and samples without informed consent. Protecting a subject's privacy, maintaining confidentiality, and communicating the outcomes of studies to research subjects were regarded as essential preconditions if researchers were to have access to archived information and samples used for research without the specific informed consent of the subjects who provided the material. Although participating physicians thought that some kind of prior permission from subjects was desirable, they pointed out the difficulties involved in obtaining individual informed consent in each case.


CONCLUSIONS
The present preliminary study indicates that the lay public and medical professionals may have different attitudes towards the use of archived information and samples without specific informed consent. This hypothesis, however, is derived from our focus groups interviews, and requires validation through research using a larger sample.
Asai
Atsushi
A
Department of Biomedical Ethics, School of Public Health, Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto, Japan. aasai@pbh.med.kyoto-u.ac.jp
Ohnishi
Motoki
M
Nishigaki
Etsuyo
E
Sekimoto
Miho
M
Fukuhara
Shunichi
S
Fukui
Tsuguya
T
D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D018070:Biological Specimen Banks; D035843:Biomedical Research; D004813:Epidemiology / Q000941:ethics; D005260:Female; D017144:Focus Groups; D036281:Genetic Research; D006801:Humans; D007258:Informed Consent; D007564:Japan; D008297:Male; D008499:Medical Records; D018907:Privacy; D011639:Public Opinion; D014019:Tissue Donors / Q000523:psychology