Principal Ethical Issues for Research with Vulnerable Population During the COVID-19 Endemic
Keywords:
COVID-19, ethical issues, conducting researches, vulnerable population, mental health issues, suicidal, self-harm
Abstract
Background: Since the very beginning of COVID-19 pandemic, the researcher community is working day and night gathering data, writing articles to aware the general public of the various issues associated with the pandemic. However, in pursue of delivering fast and quick information to the public, in some cases ethical considerations were not properly applied. In pandemic situation the ethical considerations are more important to follow, which the current research tries to highlight.
Methods: A narrative review of previous pandemics and the ethical guidelines provided by WHO, CIOMS and other literature was studied. Based on the literature and current guidelines the research has recommended few ethical principles to follow while conducting researches during pandemic.
Results: The present study has underlined several of key recommendations which have been used in previous pandemic situations with vulnerable populations such as; that of mental health, self-harm and suicidal populations. Similarly, the study has also advised using diverse range of methods and techniques to help the participants feel emotionally and mentally relaxed during and after research.
Conclusions: Though it is important in this time of crisis to conduct researches, it is equally important to safe guard the participants mentally and physically, especially those who come under vulnerable populations. The present review has tried emphasizing certain methods which can be helpful in achieving desired goals while protecting the participants.
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References
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Cao, W., Fang, Z., Hou, G., Han, M., Xu, X., Dong, J., & Zheng, J. (2020). The psychological impact of the COVID-19 epidemic on college students in China. Psychiatry Research, 287, 112934. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2020.112934
Chan, S. M. S., Chiu, F. K. H., Lam, C. W. L., Leung, P. Y. V., & Conwell, Y. (2006). Elderly suicide and the 2003 SARS epidemic in Hong Kong. International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 21(2), 113–118. https://doi.org/10.1002/gps.1432
CIOMS. (2016). International ethical guidelines for biomedical research involving human subjects -Prepared by the Council for International Organizations of Medical Sciences (CIOMS) in collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO). In CIOMS. www.cioms.ch,
Göritz, A. S. (2007). The induction of mood via the WWW. Motivation and Emotion, 31(1), 35–47. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11031-006-9047-4
Gostin, L. O., Friedman, E. A., & Wetter, S. A. (2020). Responding to Covid-19: How to Navigate a Public Health Emergency Legally and Ethically. Hastings Center Report, 50(2), 8–12. https://doi.org/10.1002/hast.1090
Greenbaum, Z. (2020). Ethical guidance for the COVID-19 era. American Psychological Association. https://www.apa.org/ethics/covid-19-guidance
Gunnell, D., Appleby, L., Arensman, E., Hawton, K., John, A., Kapur, N., Khan, M., O’Connor, R. C., Pirkis, J., Appleby, L., Arensman, E., Caine, E. D., Chan, L. F., Chang, S.-S., Chen, Y.-Y., Christensen, H., Dandona, R., Eddleston, M., Erlangsen, A., … Yip, P. S. (2020). Suicide risk and prevention during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Lancet Psychiatry. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2215-0366(20)30171-1
Holmes, E. A., O’Connor, R. C., Perry, V. H., Tracey, I., Wessely, S., Arseneault, L., Ballard, C., Christensen, H., Cohen Silver, R., Everall, I., Ford, T., John, A., Kabir, T., King, K., Madan, I., Michie, S., Przybylski, A. K., Shafran, R., Sweeney, A., … Bullmore, E. (2020). Multidisciplinary research priorities for the COVID-19 pandemic: a call for action for mental health science. The Lancet Psychiatry. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2215-0366(20)30168-1
Huang, Y., & Zhao, N. (2020). Generalized anxiety disorder, depressive symptoms and sleep quality during COVID-19 epidemic in China: a web-based cross-sectional survey. MedRxiv, 2020.02.19.20025395. https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.02.19.20025395
Huremović, D. (2019). Psychiatry of Pandemics: A Mental Health Response to Infection Outbreak. In Springer. Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-15346-5_8
Jones, D. S. (2020). History in a crisis - Lessons for Covid-19. In New England Journal of Medicine (Vol. 382, Issue 18, pp. 1681–1683). Massachussetts Medical Society. https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMp2004361
Lin, J. Y., & Anderson-Shaw, L. (2009). Rationing of resources: Ethical issues in disasters and epidemic situations. Prehospital and Disaster Medicine, 24(3), 215–221. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1049023X0000683X
Ma, X., Wang, Y., Gao, T., He, Q., He, Y., Yue, R., You, F., & Tang, J. (2020). Challenges and strategies to research ethics in conducting COVID-19 research. Journal of Evidence-Based Medicine, 13(2), 173–177. https://doi.org/10.1111/jebm.12388
Mazza, C., Ricci, E., Biondi, S., Colasanti, M., Ferracuti, S., Napoli, C., & Roma, P. (2020). A Nationwide Survey of Psychological Distress among Italian People during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Immediate Psychological Responses and Associated Factors. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(9), 3165. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17093165
Meagher, K. M., Cummins, N. W., Bharucha, A. E., Badley, A. D., Chlan, L. L., & Wright, R. S. (2020). COVID-19 ethics and research. Mayo Clinic Proceedings, 13. https://els-jbs-prod-cdn.jbs.elsevierhealth.com/pb/assets/raw/Health Advance/journals/jmcp/jmcp_ft95_4_12-1587408118213.pdf
Ng, K. H., Agius, M., & Zaman, R. (2013). The global economic crisis: effects on mental health and what can be done. Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, 106(6), 211–214. https://doi.org/10.1177/0141076813481770
Pelton, M. K., Crawford, H., Robertson, A. E., Rodgers, J., Baron-Cohen, S., & Cassidy, S. (2020). Understanding Suicide Risk in Autistic Adults: Comparing the Interpersonal Theory of Suicide in Autistic and Non-autistic Samples. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 1–18. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-020-04393-8
Reger, M. A., Stanley, I. H., & Joiner, T. E. (2020). Suicide Mortality and Coronavirus Disease 2019—A Perfect Storm? JAMA Psychiatry. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2020.1060
Setiabudy, R. (2020). Research ethics in COVID-19 pandemic. Medical Journal of Indonesia. https://doi.org/10.13181/mji.ed.204648
Shekhani, S. S., Perveen, S., Hashmi, D. e. S., Akbar, K., Bachani, S., & Khan, M. M. (2018). Suicide and deliberate self-harm in Pakistan: A scoping review. BMC Psychiatry, 18(1), 44. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12888-017-1586-6
Shuja, H. K., Aqeel, M., Jaffar, A., & Ahmed, A. (2020). COVID-19 PANDEMIC AND IMPENDING GLOBAL MENTAL HEALTH IMPLICATIONS. Psychiatria Danubina, 32(1), 32–35. https://doi.org/10.24869/psyd.2020.32
Stanley, B., & Brown, G. K. (2012). Safety Planning Intervention: A Brief Intervention to Mitigate Suicide Risk. Cognitive and Behavioral Practice, 19(2), 256–264. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cbpra.2011.01.001
Taylor, O., Keatley, D. A., & Clarke, D. D. (2020). A Behavior Sequence Analysis of Perceptions of Alcohol-Related Violence Surrounding Drinking Establishments. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 35(9–10), 1982–1997. https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260517702490
Thakur, V., & Jain, A. (2020). COVID 2019-suicides: A global psychological pandemic. Brain, Behavior, and Immunity, S0889-1591(20)30643-7. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbi.2020.04.062
Verheyen, C., & Goritz, A. S. (2009). Plain texts as an online mood-induction procedure. Social Psychology, 40(1), 6–15. https://doi.org/10.1027/1864-9335.40.1.6
World Health Organisation. (2016). Guidance for managing ethical issues in infectious disease outbreaks. In World Health Organisation. World Health Organization. file:///G:/AM/Research/AMR/WHO .pdf
World Health Organization. (2020). Ethical standards for research during public health emergencies: distilling existing guidance to support COVID-19. Ethical Standards for Research during Public Health Emergencies: Distilling Existing Guidance to Support COVID-19 R&D, 1–4. https://www.who.int/blueprint/priority-diseases/key-action/liverecovery-save-of-ethical-standards-for-research-during-public-health-emergencies.pdf?ua=1
Published
2020-08-23
Section
Articles
