Open AccessLevel of education and preferred language of informed consent for clinical research in a multi-lingual community
Author(s) -
Grace Muzanyi,
Isaac Sekitoleko,
John L. Johnson,
Jane Lunkuse,
Gladys Nalugwa,
Joanita Nassali,
David Kaawa-Mafigiri
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
african health sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.391
H-Index - 44
eISSN - 1729-0503
pISSN - 1680-6905
DOI - 10.4314/ahs.v20i2.51
Subject(s) - informed consent , medicine , family medicine , local language , preference , medical education , alternative medicine , pathology , computer science , microeconomics , economics , programming language
Background: Low education levels and language barriers present challenges in obtaining informed consent for clinical research.
Objective: To describe and correlate the association between the level of education and the participant’s preferred language of consent.
Design: Descriptive-analytical cross-sectional study.
Participants: Adults being consented for participation in tuberculosis(TB) research studies in an East African community with varying levels of education.
Procedures: We analyzed data on demographic and educational characteristics collected from adults being consented for participation in TB studies .Only participants who could understand and speak Luganda (the main local language) or English ( the official language of Uganda) were included in this analysis.
Results: A total of 523 participants were consented between April 2015 and December 2017 and included in this analysis; 250 below Senior four ( 13yrs of education). We noted that the preference for English rises with the rising levels of education and peaked at beyond senior six (83%Vs17%,OR=49,95%CI:22.8-106.3,p<0.001).Participants below senior four preferred Luganda Vs senior four and above(OR=16.9,95%CI:9.9-28.8,p<0.001)
Conclusion: Rising education levels of participants were associated with preference for English language usage during ini- tial consent for clinical research studies.
Keywords: Level of education; preferred language; informed consent; multi-lingual community.