Biobank Report: United Kingdom

A Canadian Survey of Patients' Attitudes Toward Donation of Products of Conception for Research at the Time of Their Aspiration Abortion

OBJECTIVE

We explored patients' attitudes toward donating products of conception for research at the time of their aspiration abortion.

STUDY DESIGN

We surveyed patients presenting for first or second trimester aspiration abortion to the abortion service at British Columbia Women's Hospital over a six-month period in 2018. Questions explored demographics, attitudes toward tissue donation, willingness to donate products of conception for research, and how the option of donating tissue influenced patients' perception of their abortion. We analyzed quantitative data using descriptive statistics and answers to open-ended questions using content analysis.

RESULTS

The partially tracked response rate to our survey was n=35 of 46 (76%). Of 98 respondents included for analysis 77 (79%) were willing to donate their products of conception to research. Most respondents (n=85, 93%), 49 (54%) of whom had ever been offered to actually donate tissue, reported that tissue donation would either positively change (n=33, 36%) or not change (n=52, 57%) how they felt at the time of their abortion. The majority of respondents (n=25, 60%) who were not invited to donate their products of conception would have liked the opportunity to do so. Content analysis of open-ended responses from those willing to donate identified the categories of helping others, contributing to research and providing meaning beyond the respondents' individual experience.

CONCLUSIONS

Patients' willingness to donate products of conception to research and their associated positive attitudes provide important support for researchers and clinicians who are involved in research that uses products of conception.

IMPLICATIONS

Our data may inform research programs and abortion clinics involved in research using products of conception by better understanding the patient experience of being involved in this type of research.

Human Biobanking in Developed and Developing Countries: An Ethico-Legal Comparative Analysis of the Frameworks in the United Kingdom, Australia, Uganda, and South Africa

Although the concept of biobanking is not new, the open and evolving nature of biobanks has created profound ethical, legal, and social implications, including issues around informed consent, community engagement, secondary uses of materials over time, ownership of materials, data sharing, and privacy. Complexities also emerge because of increasing international collaborations and differing national positions. In addition, the degrees and topics of concern vary as legislative, ethical, and social frameworks differ across developed and developing countries. Implementing national laws in an internationally consistent manner is also problematic. However, these concerns should not cause countries, especially developing countries, to lag behind as this novel wave of research gains momentum, particularly while several biobank initiatives are already underway in the developing world. As the law has always struggled to keep up with the fast-evolving scientific arena, this article seeks to identify the ethico-legal frameworks in place in the United Kingdom, Australia, Uganda, and South Africa, for human biobank research, in an attempt to compare and contextualize the approaches to human biobanking in specific developed and developing countries.