ArticleBMC medical ethics2023
Beyond translations, perspectives for researchers to consider to enhance comprehension during consent processes for health research in sub-saharan Africa: a scoping review.
Article in BMC medical ethics, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
11 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Measuring and evaluating participant understanding of consent processes in clinical trials: a systematic review.Trials · 2026Pooled it
- Acceptability and effectiveness of a study information video in improving the research consent process for youth: a non-inferiority trial.BMJ global health · 2025Trial
- Does Waiver of Informed Consent in Low-Risk Randomised Controlled Trials Improve Research Inclusion? Insights from a Review of the UK Health Research Authority Confidentiality Advisory Group Register.Journal of empirical research on human research ethics : JERHRE · 2026Review
- Ethical Challenges of Obtaining Informed Consent: Qualitative Research on the Perspectives of Tuberculosis Patients Participating in Human Genomic Research in Ethiopia.Developing world bioethics · 2026Article
- Conflicting perspectives on what constitutes fair compensation and benefits among research stakeholders in Malawi.BMC medical ethics · 2025Article
- Understanding and processing informed consent during data-intensive health research in sub-Saharan Africa: challenges and opportunities from a multilingual perspective.Research ethics · 2025Article
- Reimagining Assent: When Things Get Lost in Translation in International Pediatric Research.Asian bioethics review · 2025Article
- Through the eyes of the participant: using photovoice to understand the experiences and effects of ivermectin MDA in the context of the BOHEMIA clinical trial in Kwale, Kenya.Malaria journal · 2025Article
- Acceptability of the R21/Matrix-M malaria vaccine alongside existing malaria interventions in the trial context.BMJ global health · 2025Article
- Review
- Opportunities and challenges for decentralised clinical trials in sub-Saharan Africa: a qualitative study.BMJ open · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundLiterature on issues relating to comprehension during the process of obtaining informed consent (IC) has largely focused on the challenges potential participants can face in understanding the IC documents, and the strategies used to enhance comprehension of those documents. In this review, we set out to describe the factors that have an impact on comprehension and the strategies used to enhance the IC process in sub-Saharan African countries.
methodsFrom November 2021 to January 2022, we conducted a literature search using a PRISMA tool. We searched electronic databases (PubMed, EMBASE, EBSCOHOST) to identify relevant peer reviewed studies. We then reviewed the references of these articles to find additional literature that might have been missed through the initial search. We were particularly interested in full text articles in English that focused on the IC process in SSA published between 2006 and 2020. We included systematic reviews, and studies from Western and Asian countries that included data about SSA. We excluded articles that focused on medical interventions and studies that did not require IC.
resultsOut of the 50 studies included most were multi-country (n = 13) followed by single country studies in South Africa (n = 12); Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda (n = 5) each; Gambia, Ghana and Nigeria (n = 2)each ; and one each for Botswana, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique. We identified three areas of focus: (1) socio-cultural factors affecting IC; (2) gaps in the ethical and legal frameworks guiding the IC process; and (3) strategies used to improve participants' understanding of IC.
conclusionOur review showed wide recognition that the process of achieving IC in SSA is inherently challenging, and there are limitations in the strategies aimed at improving comprehension in IC. We suggest that there is a need for greater flexibility and negotiation with communities to ensure that the approach to IC is suited to the diverse socio-cultural contexts. We propose moving beyond the literal translations and technical language to understanding IC comprehension from the participants' perspectives and the researchers' views, while examining contextual factors that impact the IC process.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.