Ethical issues in the communication of results

Abstract

The communication of the results of medical tests used in epidemiologic studies or the results of such studies involve ethical issues. These issues range from the rights of subjects to receive these results to the obligation of investigators to communicate clearly and entirely not only the results but their meaning. This can be problematic in epidemiologic studies where biological or medical monitoring yields uncertain findings. Generally, the results of epidemiologic studies are group-oriented and have limited meaning for the individual. It is incumbent on investigators to express this limitation. The investigators may also have a responsibility to alert any subject with clinical conditions that require immediate or long-term follow-up.