Shalaby, Silvia Farouk
Soliman, Mona Adel
Article History
Received: 11 January 2019
Accepted: 7 February 2019
First Online: 26 February 2019
Ethics approval and consent to participate
: The used questionnaire included no identifiable personal data; it was anonymous and voluntary.No invasive procedures were used. Administrative approvals were obtained from the Dean of the Faculty of Medicine - Cairo University. Ethical approval was obtained from the Research Ethics Committee (REC) of Faculty of Medicine, Cairo University. Students were treated according to the Helsinki Declaration of biomedical ethics. Informed verbal consents were obtained from the respondents and anonymity assured and strictly applied. Due to the sensitivity of this research topic and the expected fear and refusal of the students to declare their names; a verbal consent was preferred. Also, the ethical committee had approved this consent type as written approval could markedly increase the non response rate and affect the study results especially those related to the students’ opinions and reporting of using drugs. The researchers in charge of the survey explained the objectives of the research to the participants and ensured that participation was voluntary. Caution was taken to communicate information about the research in an understandable way to enable a genuine choice to be made.
: Consent for publication is not applicable as this study did not include details, images, or videos relating to individual participants.
: The authors declare that they have no competing interests.
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