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Ethical Concerns in Carrying Out Surveys of Psychiatric Morbidity

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Ethics in Psychiatry

Part of the book series: International Library of Ethics, Law, and the New Medicine ((LIME,volume 45))

Abstract

The main ethical issues in conducting psychiatric morbidity surveys are more concerned with respecting the voluntary nature of the exercise and the dignity of survey respondents, and ensuring that information given is confidential and held securely rather than the risk of physical injury. In this chapter, the ethical dimensions of all areas of the survey process (developing the proposal, sampling individuals, interviewing procedures, data collection, analysis and dissemination) are considered with particular reference to psychiatric morbidity research. Key issues are encouraging rather than coercing people to participate in the research, not causing distress, and ensuring that pledges of confidentiality are upheld. The further ethical constraints of surveying the mental health of different subpopulations – children, elderly people, prisoners and homeless people are also described.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    See Chapter 6

  2. 2.

    See also Chapter 9

Abbreviations

CIOMS:

Council of International Organizations for Medical Science

DSM-IV:

Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th edition

EPA:

Environmental Protection Agency

GHQ12:

12-item General Health Questionnaire

GP:

General Practitioner

ICD 10:

International Classification of Diseases – 10th revision

NSIs:

National Statistical Institutes

NSOs:

National Statistical Offices

OCD:

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

PTSD:

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

SDQ:

Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Health Sciences, University of Leicester, Leicester, LE1 6TP, UK

    Howard Meltzer

  2. Department of Health Sciences, Leicester General Hospital, University of Leicester, Leicester, LE5 4PW, UK

    Traolach S. Brugha

Authors
  1. Howard Meltzer
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  2. Traolach S. Brugha
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Correspondence to Howard Meltzer .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Charité Campus Benjamin Franklin, Klinik für Psychiatrie/ Psychotherapie, Universitätsklinikum Berlin, Eschenallee 3, Berlin, 14050, Germany

    Hanfried Helmchen

  2. chemin Colladon 14, Geneve, 1209, Switzerland

    Norman Sartorius

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Meltzer, H., Brugha, T.S. (2010). Ethical Concerns in Carrying Out Surveys of Psychiatric Morbidity. In: Helmchen, H., Sartorius, N. (eds) Ethics in Psychiatry. International Library of Ethics, Law, and the New Medicine, vol 45. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-8721-8_26

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-8721-8_26

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Print ISBN: 978-90-481-8720-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-90-481-8721-8

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