Table 4 Medical students’ motivations to donate for biobank research

What would be your primary motivation for donating your biological material to a biobank?

 To benefit society and future generations

28 (6.9)

12 (5.1)

12 (5.8)

ns

 To advance science, help in generating new knowledge and develop therapies for various diseases

301 (74.1)

163 (70)

149 (72)

 To benefit my family, relatives and myself

32 (7.9)

21 (9)

18 (8.7)

 To receive medical treatment/service

2 (0.5)

2 (0.9)

0 (0)

 To know my health status

38 (9.4)

32 (13.7)

26 (12.6)

 To receive financial gratification

5 (1.2)

3 (1.3)

2 (0.9)

What type of consent would you prefer when donating your samples to a biobank?

 Blanket (open-ended permission without any limitations and the need to renewed consent)

77 (18.5)

40 (16.8)

27 (12.8)

ns

 Specific consent (for one experiment with well-defined aim / before every research that involves my samples)

206 (49.5)

128 (53.8)

115 (54.5)

 Broad consent (general consent for a broad range of future studies but subjected to specified limitations and restrictions stated in the consent form)

40 (9.6)

25 (10.5)

21 (10)

 Tiered consent (individually selected categories of research or research uses e.g. specific diseases, i.e. cancer or neurological diseases, or research conducted only by specified institutions, i.e. publicly-funded but not private)

35 (8.4)

17 (7.1)

26 (12.3)

 Consent delegated to bioethical committee

50 (12)

23 (9.7)

18 (8.5)

 I don’t know

8 (2)

5 (2.1)

4 (1.9)

Samples taken from donors for research purposes should be

 Pseudonymized (reversibly coding, i.e. in case of detecting a disease)

365 (87.7)

215 (90.3)

197 (93.4)

ns

 Anonymized (irreversibly coded, so that donor data cannot be determined)

36 (8.7)

17 (7.1)

11 (5.2)

 I don’t know

15 (3.6)

6 (2.5)

3 (1.4)

While donation the samples the donors should rather

 Specify the types of research for which their specimens may be used

168 (40.4)

123 (51.7)

84 (39.8)

1 vs. 2 p  < 0.01

 Specify the types of research for which their specimens may not be used

209 (50.2)

90 (37.8)

95 (45)

2 vs. 3 p  < 0.05

 I don’t know

39 (9.4)

25 (10.5)

32 (15.2)

When donors want to withdraw from research their samples should be

 Anonymized (irreversible coded) but available for further research

87 (20.9)

43 (18.1)

51 (24.2)

1 vs. 3 p  < 0.01

 Destroyed

237 (57)

131 (55)

93 (44.1)

 Prohibited from use in further research

72 (17.3)

53 (22.3)

57 (27)

 I don’t know

20 (4.8)

11 (4.6)

10 (4.7)