Document is current

Article History

Received: 19 December 2024

Accepted: 20 May 2025

First Online: 2 June 2025

Declarations

:

: This survey was conducted in accordance with the ethical principles of the Declaration of Helsinki. Ethical approval was obtained from the Research Ethics Committee of the Graduate School of Medicine, the University of Tokyo (2023098NI-3), and the Medical Research Ethics Committee of Institute of Science Tokyo (M2023-107). The study description document, interview guide, and face sheet were sent to the interview participants before the study. Before starting the interview, an overview and purpose of the study, benefits and disadvantages to the study participants, how to withdraw consent, refusal to answer, and protection of personal information during the interview were explained. Informed consent was obtained from all participants by having them sign the consent form prior to the start of recording. In the case of online interviews, only audio data were stored, and image data were deleted immediately after the interview. Consent forms and face-sheets were returned to the researcher after the interviews were completed. Confidentiality was ensured by anonymizing data and securely storing all research materials. Participants were given a QUO card worth JPY 3,000 as an appreciation of their time. This study adhered to ethical guidelines for Medical and Health Research Involving Human Subjects.

: Not applicable.

: The authors declare no competing interests.