Academic emergency medicine : official journal of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine
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Multicenter Study Comparative Study Clinical Trial
The use of delayed telephone informed consent for observational emergency medicine research is ethical and effective.
The objective was to describe the rate of successful consent using an altered (deferred telephone) consent process in emergency department (ED) patients. ⋯ The authors achieved a very high rate of successful telephone follow-up in this predominantly older ED population. Obtaining consent to participate in a research study using a deferred telephone contact process was effective and well received by both subjects and surrogates. IRBs should consider deferred telephone consent for minimal-risk studies requiring telephone follow-up, as opposed to a consent process requiring written documentation at the time of initial ED visit.