Nagamatsu, Yasuko
Barroga, Edward
Sakyo, Yumi
Igarashi, Yukari
Hirano O, Yuko
Funding for this research was provided by:
Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS KAKENHI Grant Number 16K15907)
Article History
Received: 13 June 2019
Accepted: 16 April 2020
First Online: 1 May 2020
Ethics approval and consent to participate
: Ethical approval for the study was obtained from the Research Ethics Committee of St. Luke’s International University, Japan (Approval number: 16-A034). Research assistants obtained written informed consent from all the participants after they had received oral and written information about the study. The participants were also informed that they could voluntary stop their participation at any time without any questions or repercussions. Verbal consent to audiotape the interviews was obtained. Anonymity of their responses was assured. Each informant confirmed her participation in writing.The study was conducted based on the ethical principles of avoiding harm, voluntary participation, anonymity, and protection of privacy and personal information. The purpose, procedures, and confidentiality of the study were explained in written format. The participants were informed that nonparticipation would not disadvantage them.
: Not applicable.
: The authors have no financial or non-financial competing interest associated with this study.