Date of Award

10-25-2025

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Bioethics

First Advisor

Dr Robyna Irshad Khan

Second Advisor

Dr Ashar Malik

Third Advisor

Dr Anita Allana

Department

Emergency Medicine

Abstract

Brief background: Obtaining informed consent in emergency care research in Pakistan is fraught with many barriers and challenges.These challenges are related to the ER environment, patient conditions, systemic and organizational structure, and sociocultural influences. Clinicians-researchers must navigate through these challenges to ensure that ethical standards of informed consent are not compromised due to the contextual realities of emergency settings. The study aims to explore the perspectives of experienced researchers into how they obtain informed consent and the challenges they face in the field.
Research Question: What are the key challenges and barriers to obtaining informed consent for emergency care research in Pakistan, and in what ways can these be addressed to improve consent processes and strengthen research practices?
Methods: This was a qualitative study in which data was collected via in-depth interviews from researchers active in the field of emergency care research in Pakistan. A purposive sampling technique was employed and 15 participants who fit the eligibility criteria were recruited. The qualitative data was coded using NVivo software for themes and sub-themes.
Results: Findings from this study identified the challenges and barriers to obtaining informed consent which were related to institutional or systemic factors, researcher and team related factors, patient fears and misconceptions, and sociocultural influences. Participants made practice level, institutional level, and policy level recommendations to improve consent processes which included creating awareness, improving communications, strengthening institutional governance, capacity-building, and digitalization of systems.
Conclusion: Researchers have to navigate through contextual and logistical constraints as well as organizational barriers to ensure that ethical standards of consent-taking are met. They have to constantly deal with ethical dilemmas when balancing research responsibilities with clinical duties in emergency settings. Improvements in consent processes can be made at the individual researcher level, institutional level, and policy level. Consent frameworks must be contextualized to emergency care settings to safeguard both the researchers and the participants in the long run.

First Page

1

Last Page

102

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