The Study Of The Status Of Medical Ethics Committee In Zhejiang Province

ObjectivesTo discuss the status of Medical Ethics Committee(MEC)and find the problems in it in Zhejiang province after reviewing the progress of the Ethics Committee at home and abroad.Further to find the problems and relevant factors affecting the awareness of the medical staff of the knowledge on ethics review.Then provide a positive suggestion to enhance the operation of MECs in Zhejiang province.MethodsBased on the literature on the progress of the Ethics Committees at home and abroad,I drew up a questionnaire of MECs and the knowledge on ethics review in the medical institutions of Zhejiang.From November 2007 to January 2008,the survey was investigated in the MECs in the upper and including Grade A,Class two hospitals,provincial(municipal) disease prevention and control centers,blood centers,medical colleges and universities,research institutes.The survey used a uniform questionnaire.MECs questionnaire consists of three parts:general information,the operation and the proposal of MEC.The operation of MEC is composed of three sections:constitution, specifications and practice.The questionnaire of medical staff is composed of two sections:general information and the knowledge on the ethics review.All data was analyzed by x~2 test or other methods with SPSS 16.0 for windows.Results1.There are 75 Class three hospitals in Zhejiang province and 39(52.00%)hospitals have set up MEC.But there are only 2(8.70%)MECs set up in the 23 other medical institutions(such as the provincial(municipal)disease prevention and control centers and blood centers,medical colleges and universities,research institutes).2.In each MEC,the average of total number is 12.41,senior number is 9.80,male number is 8.29,female number is 4.12,and the number in the institutions is 10.73,the number outside is 1.80,the number major biological medical is 6.59.The median of the ethics professional number is 0 and the law professional number is 1.3.There are 23 MECs(56.10%)having made the charter,rules and regulations and the relevant unified forms of ethics review.There are 34 MECs(82.93%)having made the charter,36(87.80%)having made rules and regulations,and 25(60.98%) having made the relevant unified forms of ethics review.4.There are 7 MECs(17.07%)having invited volunteers to participate in the review, 36 MECs(87.80%)having reviewed the informed consent in the Zhejiang medical institutions,23 MECs(56.10%)having held the activities of training and education,7 MECs(17.95%)having held the exchange activities.5.There are 965 medical staffin the survey,664 of which(68.81%)did not know The Review Methods on the Biomedical Research Involved of Human,309(32.02%) did not know the function of review and surveillance of MEC,171(17.72%)thought that the biomedical research involved of human need not review by MEC.6.On the knowledge of ethics review,there are cognitive differences in the awareness of medical staff in the different education or class of the hospital.The person,with higher level of education or class of the hospital,has more awareness of the ethics review.There is significant differences between these groups(P＜0.05).Conclusions1.MECs in Zhejiang medical institutions are not enough.The constitution of MEC is basically reasonable,but some lack the professional of ethics or law.There are a few MECs having made the charter,rules and regulations and the unified forms of ethics review,the others have imperfect rules or regulations.The review of MECs is in line with the international habits basically,but there are still some problems.2.The awareness of the ethics review is not high in the medical staff in Zhejiang province.It was indicated that the education was the relevant factor of the awareness of the knowledge on the ethics review(such as ethics norms,the function of review and surveillance,and the medical conduct required ethics review).It was also indicated that the class of the hospital is the relevant factor to the awareness of the knowledge of the ethics review(such as The Review Methods on the Biomedical Research Involved of Human,the function of review and surveillance,the clinical application required review of new operation and equipment).