Comparison of Research Ethics Committees of Buenos Aires and its Suburbs

Abstract

The Research Ethics Committees (CEPs) are core pillars for the protection of human beings as subjects of clinical research. The objective of this work was to be aware of the difficulties of CABA’s CEP (Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires) and its suburbs, as well as to compare its operations. A semi-structured interview was conducted with 38 committees. Results were expressed in percentages for categorical and median variables, and in interquartile range of 25-75 (RIC 25-75) for continuous ones were used. We used Chi-square test or Fisher test in the comparison of categorical data, and for the quantitative ones non-parametric tests were used. No significant statistical differences were found between CEP of CABA and its suburbs, except for its conformation and operation age. Problems related to the lack of time, resources and recognition of the Committee’s tasks by researchers and institutions were found.