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Article History

Received: 14 November 2024

Accepted: 11 June 2025

First Online: 4 July 2025

Competing interests

: The author declares no competing interests.

: In the announcement letter dated March 22, 2012 (Ref: MOHW Medical Letter No. 1010064538), the Ministry of Health and Welfare (Taiwan) provided a clarification regarding the “Human Research Act,” Article 4. It was stated that this article does not encompass “Social Behavioral Science research” (i.e., research on the interaction between individuals and the external social environment due to mutual influences between individuals) and “humanities research” (i.e., research that observes, analyzes, and critiques social phenomena and cultural arts). The research is characterized as non-human contact, non-anonymous, and non-intrusive, conducted in a public setting. This research unambiguously falls within the purview of these two exempted categories and may not necessitate ethics approval for research review.

: In the announcement letter dated July 5, 2012 (Ref: MOHW Medical Letter No. 1010265083), the Ministry of Health and Welfare (Taiwan) stipulated that under specific conditions, the consent of the research subject may be exempted as follows: No. 3 The research presents minimal risk, with potential risks to the research subject not surpassing those of non-participants in the study, and the waiver of prior consent does not impinge upon the rights and interests of the research subject. This study aligns with and satisfies the specified conditions.