Outcome of a research ethics training workshop among clinicians and scientists in a Nigerian university

Abstract

Background: In Nigeria, as in other developing countries, access to training in research ethics is

limited, due to weak social, economic, and health infrastructure. The project described in this

article was designed to develop the capacity of academic staff of the College of Medicine, University

of Ibadan, Nigeria to conduct ethically acceptable research involving human participants.

Methods: Three in-depth interviews and one focus group discussion were conducted to assess

the training needs of participants. A research ethics training workshop was then conducted with

College of Medicine faculty. A 23-item questionnaire that assessed knowledge of research ethics,

application of principles of ethics, operations of the Institutional Review Board (IRB) and ethics

reasoning was developed to be a pre-post test evaluation of the training workshop. Ninety-seven

workshop participants completed the questionnaire before and after the workshop; 59 of them

completed a second post-test questionnaire one month after the workshop.

Results: The trainees came from a multi-disciplinary background including medicine, nursing,

pharmacy, social science and laboratory science. The mean scores for knowledge of the principles

of research ethics rose from 0.67 out of 3 points at pre-test to 2.25 at post-test (p < 0.05). Also,

42% correctly mentioned one international guideline or regulation at pretest, with most of those

knowing of the Declaration of Helsinki. Trainees' knowledge of the operations of an IRB increased

from 6.05 at pre-test to 6.29 at post test out of 7 points. Overall, participants retained much of the

knowledge acquired from the workshop one month after its completion.

Conclusion: The training improved participants' knowledge of principles of research ethics,

international guidelines and regulations and operations of IRBs. It thus provided an opportunity for

research ethics capacity development among academic staff in a developing country institution