Asfaw, Agize
Belachew, Tefera
Funding for this research was provided by:
Jimma University (RPGC/4052/2008)
Article History
Received: 6 August 2019
Accepted: 20 March 2020
First Online: 8 June 2020
Ethics approval and consent to participate
: Ethical clearance and approval was obtained from Jimma University after being reviewed by the institutional review board (IRB). Official letter of co-operation was written by the University to the study area administrative office. The office in turn wrote a letter of cooperation to the respective school directors. Verbal consent was obtained from the parents or guardians of each pupil after the school director and parents committee discussed on the proposal. Assent was also obtained from pupils. Written consent was not necessary at least for three reasons: first, the research protocol was neither hostile nor invasive to the study participants. Second, according to the legislative of research ethics in Jimma University, having verbal consent is enough for non-invasive research procedures. Third, as the majority of parents/guardians cannot read and write, getting written consent may be difficult. Moreover, all the study participants/guardians were informed about the purpose and confidentiality of the information along with their right to refuse. In cases of clinical examination of goiter, any child diagnosed with goiter (his/her parent) was advised to visit the nearby health facility to obtain possible advice and management.
: Not applicable.
: The authors declare that they have no competing interests.