Hu, Yu
Chen, Shuxin
Yang, Wenchao
Rizwan Ullah, Muhammad
Zulfiqar, Muhmammad
Article History
Received: 2 November 2024
Accepted: 8 September 2025
First Online: 28 October 2025
Competing interests
: The authors declare no competing interests.
: Consistent with the provisions of China’s Measures for Ethical Review of Life Science and Medical Research Involving Human Subjects (Document No. Guo Wei Ke Jiao Fa [2023] 4), Article 32(2) ( ), studies that utilize anonymized data, pose no physical harm, and do not involve sensitive personal information or commercial interests are exempt from ethical review. Our study meets these criteria as it collected only fully anonymized questionnaire responses, involved no experimental interventions, posed minimal risk to participants, and included only individuals aged 18 years or older. Accordingly, it qualifies for exemption from IRB oversight under this regulation
: Data were collected through both on-site and online questionnaire surveys. Prior to participation, all individuals were provided with written informed consent, which explained the purpose of the research, their rights as participants, and the scope of their consent. Participation was entirely voluntary, and all respondents confirmed their willingness to take part solely for academic research purposes. The authors guaranteed confidentiality and assured that all responses would be used exclusively for academic purposes. Written informed consent was obtained from all participants on 14 May 2024, before the commencement of data collection.