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Table 1 Ranking of the most pressing ethical issues

From: Early-career researchers’ views on ethical dimensions of patient engagement in research

Rank

Ethical issue

Profile of panelists more likely to select the issue

1

Emergence of a class of professional patients (a reduced pool of patients with specific profiles which PER projects continually draw upon)

Younger, lower education level, student, less knowledgeable about PER, no experience with engaging PPRs

2

Patient remuneration

Older, higher education level, more knowledgeable about PER

3

Fair recognition and appreciation of patient expertise

No longer students, more knowledgeable about PER, experience with engaging PPRs

3

Using PER for the financial opportunities it presents to researchers without actually applying it once funding has been secured

No longer students

5

Power sharing between researchers and patients

Younger, lower education level, student, less knowledgeable about PER, no experience with engaging PPRs

5

Confidentiality

Higher education level, no experience with engaging PPRs

5

Exploitation of vulnerable persons

Student, less knowledgeable about PER

8

Paternalism and its off-shoots

Younger, lower education level, student

9

Educating patients about the world of research (structure, protocol format, validity criteria, etc.)

Older, higher education level, professional, more knowledgeable about PER, experience with engaging PPRs

10

Educating patients about research integrity

N/A (chosen by only one person)