RESUMO
OBJECTIVES: To determine if signed consent for a research project constitutes informed consent in sexually transmitted diseases (STD) clinic attendees who understood the voluntary nature of confidentiality outlined in the consent form. DESIGN AND METHODS: A sexual behaviour research project was conducted by researchers from local institutions in association with investigators from a university in Alabama. This present study was a cross-sectional survey using a 34-item questionnaire administered to a consecutive sample of STD clinic attendees in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad, who had been invited to participate in the sexual behaviour research project. RESULTS: Of the 102 participants, 48 (47.1 percent) persons had read the entire consent form in the sexual behaviour survey. Thirty-eight (37.3 percent) persons reported that they thought the health care they received would be worse if they declined to participate in that study. Subjects with less education were significantly more likely to believe their health care would be negatively affected if they refused to participate (p<0.001). Thirty-nine (38.2 percent) persons believed that they had to complete the sexual behaviour questionnaire in order to be treated at the clinic. Almost two-thirds of respondents thought that their answers to the sexual behaviour questionnaire could be traced back to them by persons other than the interviewers and researchers. CONCLUSIONS: The findings clearly indicate that amongst this population a signed consent form does not constitute informed consent. The process of obtaining truly informed consent for research conducted in this setting requires review.(Au)