Informed consent for research: current practices in academic emergency medicine.
BACKGROUND
The emergency department (ED) environment presents unique barriers to the process of obtaining informed consent for research.


OBJECTIVE
The objective was to identify commonalities and differences in informed consent practices for research employed in academic EDs.


METHODS
Between July 1, 2006, and June 30, 2007, an online survey was sent to the research directors of 142 academic emergency medicine (EM) residency training programs identified through the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME).


RESULTS
Seventy-one (50%) responded. The average number of simultaneous clinical ED-based research projects reported was 7.3 (95% confidence interval [CI] = 5.53 to 9.07). Almost half (49.3%) of respondents reported that EM residents are responsible for obtaining consent. Twenty-nine (41.4%) participating institutions do not require documentation of an individual resident's knowledge of the specific research protocol and consent procedure before he or she is allowed to obtain consent from research subjects.


CONCLUSIONS
It is common practice in academic EDs for clinical investigators to rely on on-duty health care personnel to obtain research informed consent from potential research subjects. This practice raises questions regarding the sufficiency of the information received by research subjects, and further study is needed to determine the compliance of this consent process with federal guidelines.
Monico
Edward
E
Section of Emergency Medicine, Department of Surgery, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA. Edward.Monico@Yale.edu
Larkin
Gregory Luke
GL
Degutis
Linda
L
D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D004635:Emergency Medicine; D006805:Human Experimentation; D006801:Humans; D007258:Informed Consent; D007396:Internship and Residency; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014481:United States