What ethical approaches are used by scientists when sharing health data? An interview study

BMC Medical Ethics

Table 3 The categories and subcategories of the ethical approaches attributed to the participating scientists in relation to sharing health data.

Category	Subcategory	No of respondents
Consideration of consequences (consequentialism)	Benefit to society	7
	Benefit to science	6
	Do no harm to individuals/non-maleficence	8
Respect for rights (deontological approach)	Right to a private sphere	6
	Autonomy	7
	Freedom	3
	Human dignity	2
	Keeping promises	5
	Justice	3
Procedural compliance (procedural ethics)	Effective approach	2
	Transparency towards data subjects and society	2
	Doing the right thing by default	2
Being professional (virtue ethics)	Being responsible	3
	Being respectful	2

To illustrate the weight placed on each ethical approach, the number of respondents who brought up the topic is mentioned. As is always the case in qualitative research, it is not possible to generalize on the basis of these numbers

ISSN: 1472-6939