Awareness of dental practitioners of the ethical standards in dental researches

Background: Awareness of ethical standards in conducting research is necessary because ignoring ethical issues may not only cause harm to the research subjects but also lead to research ineffectiveness. This study aimed to investigate the awareness of dental residents and professors of Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Iran, of the ethical standards in researches. Methodology: This is a descriptive cross-sectional study, performed using a validated researcher-made questionnaire. ۵۳ professors and ۷۴ residents of different dental specialties participated. The data were analyzed using statistical tests and SPSS ۲۱.۰۰ software.Findings: The male, female ratio in professors was ۴۱.۵% to ۵۸.۵% , while ۶۲.۲% of residents were female and ۳۷.۸% male. Regarding awareness of research ethics, ۶۶% of professors and ۸۵% of residents selected the acceptable answers. The mean and standard deviation of professors' and residents’ awareness were ۰.۵۶۰۶±۰.۱۶۲۳۰ and ۰.۶۵۴۲±۰.۱۷۶۹۳, from source۱. The levels of residents' and professors’ awareness were ۰.۶۵ and ۰.۵۹, respectively, using Levene’s Test (the significance level of p=۰.۰۴۱). In professors’ part the lowest score belonged to “Written consent is required in intervention research” and in residents’ part the lowest one was about “In some cases, prisoners can be promised a reduced sentence as a reward for their cooperation in conducting a research project”. Conclusion: Professors and dental residents had acceptable awareness of ethics in dental researches, and the level of awareness was higher in dental residents compared to professors. There was no significant difference in the awareness of dental residents by age, gender, and field of specialty. Also, there was no significant difference in the awareness of dental professors by age, gender, specialty, years of service, and participation in the research project or dissertation. Obtaining consent for performing research and paying more attention to vulnerable groups during research projects are items that must be mentioned more.

Keywords:

Ethical standards , ethics in research , professors , dental students