Balikuddembe, Michael S. http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6391-203X
Tumwesigye, Nazarius M.
Wakholi, Peter K.
Tylleskär, Thorkild
Article History
Received: 16 October 2018
Accepted: 30 July 2019
First Online: 5 August 2019
Ethics approval and consent to participate
: Anonymity of survey participants was maintained to ensure free expression of ideas and opinions. It was quasi-anonymity since the survey coordinator and some respondents knew some respondents even though the responses were anonymous to respondents. Confidentiality was supported by the SurveyMonkey<sup>R</sup> provider security conditions at time of the survey. The study was passed with exemption by the Hordaland Regional Committee for Medical and Health Research Ethics (REC) in Norway before review and clearance by the Uganda National Council of Science and Technology (UNCST/IS 121).Informed consent was sought from each respondent before proceeding to the survey questionnaire through clicking the survey link, and confirmed by checking the “I voluntarily accept to participate” option. Potential participants received a study preamble with web links to extra information about the survey. Participants were free to withdraw from the survey at any time, or change their responses before the survey round was closed.
: In the patient information, we stated that, “All information will be processed and used without your name or personal identification number, or any other information that is directly identifiable to you.” The data would be published and other panellists could access the anonymized data that would be published. The last question of the survey asked a participant whether or not to mention their name in the acknowledgements during results dissemination but although the majority agreed, we will not mention individual names in the dissemination.
: The authors declare that they have no competing interests.