Scholes, Shaun
Mindell, Jennifer S.
Article History
Received: 23 January 2020
Accepted: 6 March 2020
First Online: 19 March 2020
Ethics approval and consent to participate
: Each sampled address for the HSE is sent an advance letter which introduces the survey and states that an interviewer would be calling to seek permission to interview. A leaflet is also enclosed providing general information about the survey and some of the findings from previous surveys. Individual interviews are conducted with adults who give verbal informed consent. At the end of individual interviews, participants are asked for agreement to a follow-up visit by a trained nurse. Written consent is obtained for collection of non-fasting blood samples. It is made clear in the advance letters and information leaflets that participation in the survey is entirely voluntary, and that participants may decline to answer individual questions, withdraw or stop at any time, or refuse any particular measurement if they wish to do so. Interviewers and nurses will often repeat this information in their introductions and when they are setting up appointments, and throughout the interview as necessary. Indeed, many individuals do refuse to participate in the survey; others may refuse individual questions, decline to continue part way through an interview or refuse physical measurements. It is also standard practice to conduct interviews and nurse visits some time after an appointment has been made so that individuals have a chance to reflect on their agreement before the appointment takes place. The procedures used in the HSE to obtain informed consent are very closely scrutinised by a National Health Service (NHS) ethics committee each year. Information leaflets and both the content and wording of questionnaires are also carefully reviewed by the ethics committees. Research ethics approval for the HSE 2008 and HSE 2012 was obtained from the Oxford A Research Ethics Committee (reference number 07/H0604/102 and 10/H0604/56, respectively); ethical approval for the HSE 2016 was obtained from the East Midlands Nottingham 2 Research Ethics Committee (Reference no 15/EM/0254).
: Not applicable.
: The authors declare that they have no competing interests.