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How well are researchers applying ethical principles and practices in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health and medical research? A cross-sectional study.
- Source :
-
The Medical journal of Australia [Med J Aust] 2025 Feb 03; Vol. 222 Suppl 2, pp. S49-S56. - Publication Year :
- 2025
-
Abstract
- Objective: Describe perceptions of how well researchers conducting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health and medical research apply ethical research practices.<br />Study Design: Cross-sectional online survey.<br />Setting, Participants: Researchers who included Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people or their data in their projects, and current or past members (previous 5 years) of a human research ethics committee that assessed Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander research.<br />Main Outcome Measures: Researchers' engagement with 15 ethical research practices (on a 5-point Likert scale, poor to excellent).<br />Results: 561 participants (382 researchers [68.1%] and 179 human research ethics committee members [31.9%]) completed the survey. Across all research practices, a rating of excellent was least frequently endorsed, with the highest frequency being for employing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander team members (38 participants [6.8%]). A rating of poor was most common for enacting Indigenous data sovereignty and governance principles (156 participants [27.8%]). Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander respondents had significantly lower odds of perceiving high levels of adherence to ethical principles than non-Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander respondents for all ethical principles, except employing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander team members. In particular, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander participants had 65% lower odds of perceiving that researchers have high rates of adhering to disseminating results back to the community (odds ratio [OR], 0.35; 95% CI, 0.22-0.57), 56% lower odds of perceiving that researchers have high rates of adhering to engaging Aboriginal community in research implementation (OR, 0.44; 95% CI, 0.27-0.73), and 54% lower odds of perceiving that researchers have high rates of adhering to engaging Aboriginal community in developing research questions (OR, 0.46; 95% CI, 0.28-0.75).<br />Conclusion: Researchers are not consistently implementing all ethical practices outlined in guidelines for research involving Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. We call for commitment from researchers, institutions and funding bodies to address shortfalls, embed processes, and hold researchers accountable to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, communities and the principles and guidelines they have established.<br /> (© 2025 AMPCo Pty Ltd.)
- Subjects :
- Humans
Cross-Sectional Studies
Australia
Male
Female
Health Services, Indigenous ethics
Ethics, Research
Adult
Surveys and Questionnaires
Middle Aged
Ethics Committees, Research
Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples
Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander
Biomedical Research ethics
Research Personnel ethics
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 1326-5377
- Volume :
- 222 Suppl 2
- Database :
- MEDLINE
- Journal :
- The Medical journal of Australia
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 39893589
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.5694/mja2.52572