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Table 2 Characteristics of participating ethics committees and chairs

From: Variability in research ethics review of cluster randomized trials: a scenario-based survey in three countries

 

Canada

United States

United Kingdom

Total

 

(N = 60)

(N = 86)

(N = 43)

(N = 189)

Response rate

39.2% (60/153)

32.3% (86/266)

35.0% (43/123)

34.9% (189/542)

Ethics committee characteristics

Year established

    

<1990

23 (42.6)a

66 (84.6)

10 (27.0)

99 (58.6)

1990 to 1999

14 (25.9)

9 (11.5)

13 (35.1)

36 (21.3)

> = 2000

17 (31.5)

3 (3.9)

14 (37.8)

34 (20.1)

# Protocols/month (Median, Q1-Q3)

5 (3 to 20)

30 (10 to 60)

8 (7 to 8)

10 (5 to 37.5)

Type of committee b

    

University

18 (30.0)

49 (57.0)

8 (18.6)

75 (39.7)

Hospital/healthcare

41 (68.3)

41 (47.7)

-

82 (56.2)

National Research Ethics Service

-

-

31 (72.1)

31 (16.0)

Other nonprofit

2 (3.33)

9 (10.5)

0

11 (5.8)

Other for-profit

5 (8.3)

2 (2.3)

0

7 (3.7)

Number of CRTs /year

    

None

18 (32.7)

3 (8.1)

27 (34.6)

48 (28.2)

1 to 5

35 (63.6)

28 (75.7)

38 (48.7)

101 (59.4)

>5

2 (3.6)

6 (16.2)

13 (16.7)

21 (12.3)

Have guidelines in place for CRTs

0

3 (3.8)

0

3 (1.7)

Aware of guidelines for CRTs

1 (1.8)

3 (3.8)

4 (10.8)

8 (4.7)

Ethics Chair characteristics

Years experience as chair

    

<2

9 (16.4)

12 (15.2)

9 (24.3)

30 (17.5)

2 to 5

27 (49.1)

28 (35.4)

12 (32.4)

67 (39.2)

>5

19 (34.5)

39 (49.3)

16 (43.2)

74 (43.3)

Years experience as member

    

<6

26 (47.3)

24 (30.4)

13 (35.1)

63 (36.8)

6 to 10

18 (32.7)

21 (26.6)

16 (43.2)

55 (32.2)

>10

11 (20.0)

34 (43.0)

8 (21.6)

53 (31.0)

Highest degrees c

    

Doctorate

24 (43.6)

36 (45.0)

17 (46.0)

77 (44.8)

Medical

23 (41.8)

43 (53.8)

13 (35.1)

79 (45.9)

Masters

16 (29.1)

10 (12.5)

11 (29.7)

37 (21.5)

Undergraduate

4 (7.3)

4 (10.8)

2 (2.5)

10 (5.8)

  1. a Table entries represent number (%) unless otherwise indicated.
  2. bA committee can be classified as more than one type.
  3. cA chair can indicate more than one degree.
  4. CRT, cluster randomized trial.