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Article History

Received: 3 June 2025

Accepted: 23 October 2025

First Online: 27 November 2025

Declarations

:

: Ethical approval for the study was obtained from the Health Research and Ethics Committee (HREC) of Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), Lagos, Nigeria (Approval number: ADM/DSCST/HREC/APP/5932). Institutional permission was also obtained from the participating departments.The research adhered to the highest ethical standards in line with Beauchamp and Childress’s four fundamental moral principles of autonomy, non-maleficence, beneficence and justice and ensured the safeguarding of the rights and welfare of the research participants [ ].Informed consent was obtained from all participants. The study objectives, content, and implications were clearly explained, and participants were informed of their right to voluntary participation, including the freedom to decline or withdraw at any point without consequences. Individuals who gave verbal consent received a digital questionnaire link, which included an information page and a required digital consent form before proceeding.Confidentiality was maintained. No personal identifiers were collected apart from email addresses and phone numbers, which were used solely for participants onboarding into a WhatsApp group. Names were excluded from the responses, and the data were securely stored in a password-protected Google Drive, which was accessible only to the research team.

: Not applicable.

: The authors declare no competing interests.