This study aimed to determine the success of university student volunteers in obtaining consent from parents to allow review of their child's personal health information (PHI) for emergency research screening. This study also aimed to examine the variables associated with successful consent. This was a prospective cross-sectional study conducted at a pediatric emergency department (ED). University students, who functioned as delegates of the health information custodian, approached parents for consent. Of 2,506 parents, 1,852 (73.9%) provided consent to allow review of their child's PHI for research screening. Variables associated with successful consent were high (≥12 months) versus low (<12 months) volunteer experience (OR = 2.0), research related (vs. unrelated) to the child's chief complaint (OR = 2.0), child treated regularly by specialists at the study institution (OR = 1.7), and ED presentation mid-week vs. weekend (OR = 1.7) and morning vs. evening presentation (OR = 1.4). When approached by a university student volunteer, about 25% of parents declined to have their child's PHI reviewed for research screening. This model of obtaining consent may put some emergency research at risk for selection bias. Variables that increase the odds of successful consent can be considered in program design to improve the effectiveness of this model.
Prospective research studies often advance clinical practice in the emergency department (ED), but they can be costly and difficult to perform. In this report, we describe the implementation of a volunteer university student research assistant program that provides students exposure to medicine and clinical research while simultaneously increasing the capacity of an ED's research program. This type of program provides 15 hours per day of research assistant coverage for patient screening and enrolment for minimal risk research studies, and screening for higher risk studies. The latter is true without the added burden or costs of co-administering university course credit or pay for service, which are common features of most of these types of programs currently in operation. We have shown that our volunteer-based program is effective for an ED's research success as well as for its student participants. For other EDs interested in adopting similar programs, we provide the details on how to get such a program started and highlight the structure and non-monetary incentives that facilitate a program's ongoing success. RÉSUMÉLa recherche prospective fait souvent évoluer la pratique clinique en médecine d'urgence (MU), mais les études peuvent coûter cher, en plus d'être difficiles à réaliser. Il sera question, dans le présent rapport, de la mise en oeuvre d'un programme bénévole, universitaire, d'assistanat de recherche qui permet aux étudiants d'entrer en contact avec la médecine et la recherche clinique, en plus d'augmenter la capacité d'un programme de recherche en médecine d'urgence. Ce type de programme prévoit un travail d'assistanat de recherche de 15 heures/jour, consacré à la sélection et au recrutement des malades pour des études à risque minimal, et à la sélection des malades pour des études à risque plus élevé. Il s'agit d'un véritable programme de recherche, mais exempt du fardeau ou des coûts liés à la cogestion des crédits universitaires ou au paiement du service, éléments qui alourdissent souvent la plupart de ces types de programmes actuellement existants. L'expérience a démontré que le programme bénévole était à la fois efficace pour la réussite de la recherche en MU et bon pour les étudiants qui y participent. Les auteurs donnent, à l'intention des services des urgences qui aimeraient adopter ce type de programme, une description détaillée de la mise sur pied de celui présenté ici, en plus de mettre en évidence la structure et les mesures incitatives non pécuniaires qui contribuent à un succès durable.
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