INFORMED CONSENT FOR CLINICAL ANESTHESIA RESEARCH

Most surgical patients are first seen by an anaesthetist after admissi on to hospital, either the evening before or on the day of surgery. So me medical ethicists believe that an approach by an anaesthesia resear cher made after admission is unethical because the hospital itself is a coercive environment, and patients have insufficient time for reject ion or consultation. Others believe that an approach prior to admissio n may be an invasion of the patient's privacy and confidentiality. The implications of these views for anaesthesia researchers may not be ap parent to research ethics boards (REBs) To determine current practice, a questionnaire concerning the membership and function of REBs and th e time of obtaining informed consent was sent to each research represe ntative of the 16 Canadian university departments of anaesthesia. Memb ership of REBS was similar, but not identical, in all centres. Most re presentation was from medical disciplines. Consent was generally obtai ned following the patient's admission to hospital In one centre, the R EB always requested informed consent to be obtained before the patient 's admission to the hospital Surgeons had no involvement with consent for anaesthesia research in 14 centres while in the other two they gav e permission for their patients to be studied and informed patients of the potential approach by anaesthesia researchers. We conclude that i t is ethically acceptable to obtain informed consent for most low-risk clinical anaesthesia research after the patient's admission to hospit al.