Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2023 Dec;18(5):346-362.
doi: 10.1177/15562646231208991. Epub 2023 Oct 23.

Ethical Considerations for Engaging Children and Adolescents Living with HIV in Research in African Countries: A Systematic Review

Emma Gillette  1 , Winstone Nyandiko  2   3 , Ashley Chory  1 , Michael Scanlon  4 , Josephine Aluoch  3 , Nandini Choudhury  1 , Daniel Lagat  3 , Celestine Ashimosi  3 , Whitney Biegon  3 , Dennis Munyoro  3 , Janet Lidweye  3 , Jack Nyagaya  3 , Ilene Wilets  1 , Allison DeLong  5 , Rami Kantor  5 , Rachel Vreeman  1 , Violet Naanyu  2   3
Affiliations

Ethical Considerations for Engaging Children and Adolescents Living with HIV in Research in African Countries: A Systematic Review

Emma Gillette et al. J Empir Res Hum Res Ethics. 2023 Dec.

Abstract

Research engaging children and adolescents living with HIV (CALWH) is critical for youth-friendly services and HIV care, and researchers need to ensure that such engagement is ethical. We conducted a systematic review to identify key ethical considerations for the engagement of CALWH in research. The review focused on primary research articles conducted in African countries that examined ethical issues in CALWH engaged in research. Ten studies met the inclusion criteria; the following seven key domains were extracted: 1) justifications for engaging CALWH in research; 2) community involvement; 3) informed consent/assent; 4) caregiver involvement; 5) perceptions of benefits; 6) perception of the risks of involvement; and 7) confidentiality. These domains can inform the ethical engagement of CALWH in research.

Keywords: Africa; HIV; adolescents; children; research ethics.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
PRISMA Diagram.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Key Domains of Ethical Engagement of CALWH.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Act, C. C. Act 74 of 1983. Government Gazette(9765).
    1. Afolabi MO, Okebe JU, McGrath N, Larson HJ, Bojang K, & Chandramohan D (2014). Informed consent comprehension in African research settings. Tropical Medicine & International Health, 19(6), 625–642. 10.1111/tmi.12288 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Afolabi MO, Rennie S, Hallfors DD, Kline T, Zeitz S, Odongo FS, & Luseno WK (2018). An adapted instrument to assess informed consent comprehension among youth and parents in rural western Kenya: A validation study. BMJ Open, 8(7), e021613. 10.1136/bmjopen-2018-021613 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Appiah-Poku J, Newton S, & Kass N (2011). Participants’ perceptions of research benefits in an African genetic epidemiology study. Developing World Bioethics, 11(3), 128–135. 10.1111/j.1471-8847.2011.00309.x - DOI - PubMed
    1. Avert. (2020). Children, HIV and AIDS. Retrieved from avert.org: https://www.avert.org/professionals/hiv-social-issues/key-affected-popul....

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources