Research with women sexual assault survivors presenting for emergency care is safe: Results from a multi-site, prospective observational cohort study.

A barrier to research with sexual assault survivors is the concern that research participation might be a negative experience for participants. We report the experiences with research of adult women sexual assault survivors participating in a large-scale, multi-site, prospective observational study that enrolled participants at the time of presentation for emergency care. Participants (n = 706, M = 28 years of age; 57% white, 15% Black) self-reported their experience with research 1 week, 6 weeks, 6 months, and 1 year post-assault. The vast majority rated the research experience as positive (95-97%), reported no drawbacks (84-89%), and felt that participating was worth it (93-95%). Positive experiences with research remained stable across the year, were generally consistent across demographic and clinical groups, and were reflected in qualitative comments. Given the tremendous morbidity experienced by sexual assault survivors and lack of progress in developing improved treatments for this population, ethically-conducted research with sexual assault survivors receiving emergency care should be encouraged.

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Déclaration de conflit d'intérêts

Declaration of competing interest Dr. Short received grant funding from the National Institute on Drug Abuse for a separate study. Ms. Bell received payment for expert testimony from the US Attorney's Office for the Eastern and Northern Districts of Oklahoma. Dr. Buchanan received payment for speaking at Northwest Seminars and serving as a PEERcert editor for the Academy of Emergency Physicians; she also serves as a section author for UpToDate. Dr. Ho serves as the Medical Director of the Hennepin Assault Response Team. Dr. Bollen received grant funding from the James McKeen Cattell Fund, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, and National Institute on Aging for separate studies. Dr. McLean served as a consultant for Walter Reed Army Institute for Research and for Arbor Medical Innovations.