CITI Training 2019
If you're unsure about the particulars of HIPAA research requirements at your organization or have questions, you can usually consult with:
An organizational IRB or Privacy Board, privacy official ("Privacy Officer"), or security official ("Security Officer"), depending on the issue.
The FDA regulations governing disclosure of individual COIs require:
Applicants submitting marketing applications to disclose financial COIs of researchers who conducted clinical studies
Identify the example of when situation and time are key to assessing risk of harm in a research study:
Asking women if they have had an abortion
A covered entity may use or disclose PHI without an authorization, or documentation of a waiver or an alteration of authorization, for all of the following EXCEPT:
Data that does not cross state lines when disclosed by the covered entity.
A researcher wishes to study generational differences in coping mechanisms among adults who experienced abuse as children. Adequate measures will be instituted to obtain informed consent and ensure that there is no breach of confidentiality. The most likely additional risk is that some subjects may:
Experience emotional or psychological distress.
A medical record is an example of:
Private Information
The IRB Administrator would be responsible for which of the following tasks:
Professional development for IRB members and supporting staff
The primary purpose of a Certificate of Confidentiality is to:
Protect identifiable research information from compelled disclosure.
As part of the consent process, the federal regulations require researchers to:
Provide potential subjects with information at the appropriate reading comprehension level.
The COI management plan aims to:
Provide procedures or extras steps to be taken to minimize the risk of bias when a COI is disclosed
Census data (the final report as published by the Census Bureau) is an example of:
Public Information
HIPAA's protections for health information used for research purposes...
Supplement those of the Common Rule and FDA.
A general requirement for informed consent is that no informed consent may include any exculpatory language. Exculpatory language is that which waives or appears to waive any of the subject's legal rights or releases or appears to release those conducting the research from liability for negligence. Which of the following statements in a consent form is an example of exculpatory language?
Taking part in the research is voluntary, but if you choose to take part, you waive the right to legal redress for any research-related injuries.
A waiver of the requirement for documentation of informed consent may be granted when:
The only record linking the subject and the research is the consent document and the principal risk is a breach of confidentiality.
A criterion for waiving informed consent is that, when appropriate, subjects are provided additional pertinent information after the study. In which of the following studies would it NOT be appropriate to provide subjects with information about missing elements of consent:
A study in which subjects were assigned to study activities based on an undesirable or unflattering physical characteristic as assessed by members of the research team.
According to the federal regulations, which of the following studies meets the definition of research with human subjects?
A study of twenty 4th grade classrooms in which researchers ask the schools to systematically vary the time of day reading is taught, and collect weekly assessments of reading comprehension for each child over a three-month period.
According to the federal regulations, which of the following studies meets the definition of research with human subjects?
A developmental psychologist videotapes interactions between groups of toddlers and their caregivers to determine which intervention methods most effectively manage aggression.
Which of the following constitutes both a breach of confidentiality (the research data have been disclosed, counter to the agreement between researcher and subjects) and a violation of subjects' privacy (the right of the individuals to be protected against intrusion into their personal lives or affairs)?
A faculty member makes identifiable data about sexual behavior available to graduate students, although the subjects were assured that the data would be de-identified.
A researcher wants to do a web-based survey of college students to collect information about their sexual behavior and drug use. Direct identifiers will not be collected; however, IP addresses may be present in the data set. Risk of harm should be evaluated by:
Both the magnitude (or severity) and the probability (or likelihood) of harm.
Recruiting into research ...
Can qualify as an activity "preparatory to research," at least for the initial contact, but data should not leave the covered entity.
Data are made anonymous by
Destroying all identifiers connected to the data.
A staff member approaches the IRB administrator about a researcher submitting a new HIV prevention study that involves multiple performance sites in different countries. The researcher also proposes to be the coordinating center for this multisite trial. The staff member asks for help with preparing the IRB for review of this more than minimal risk, intervention study. Which of the following best describes the IRB administrator's action to prepare the study for IRB review?
Determine if an IRB consulting reviewer is required
Which of the following is an example of how the principle of beneficence can be applied to a study employing human subjects?
Determining that the study has a maximization of benefits and a minimization of risks.
During an Institutional Review Board (IRB) meeting, any IRB member who may have a potential COI with a study under review should:
Disclose their potential COI and may answer questions, but recuse themselves from voting
HIPAA protects a category of information known as protected health information (PHI). PHI covered under HIPAA includes:
Identifiable health information that is created or held by covered entities and their business associates.
Under HIPAA, "retrospective research" (a.k.a., data mining) on collections of PHI generally ...
Is research, and so requires either an authorization or meeting one of the criteria for a waiver of authorization.
A researcher's membership on an advisory board with an organization sponsoring research can create a COI because:
It may be difficult for the researcher to appear neutral, as the researcher may have an interest in the research's success
Continuing review of an approved and ongoing study posing more than minimal risk that was initially approved by a convened IRB:
Must occur within 12 months of the approval date.
According to federal regulations, the expedited review process may be used when the study procedures pose:
No more than minimal risk and the research activities fall within regulatory categories identified as eligible.
If disclosure of a subject's involvement in a specific research study can be potentially harmful to the subject, and the consent form is the only record linking the subject to the research, which of the following would be most helpful:
Obtain a waiver of documentation of informed consent.
According to the federal regulations, human subjects are living individuals about whom an investigator conducting research obtains information through interaction or intervention with the individual, and uses, studies, or analyzes the information; or:
Obtains, uses, studies, analyzes, or generates identifiable private information.
Which of the following statements about the relationship between an institution and the institution's IRB(s) is correct?
Officials of the institution may overrule an IRB approval.
The Belmont Report's principle of respect for persons incorporates at least two ethical convictions: first, that individuals should be treated as autonomous agents, and second, that:
Persons with diminished autonomy are entitled to protection.
In addition to pregnant women, fetuses, and neonates, another subpart of the HHS regulations provides additional protections for which of the following vulnerable populations?
Prisoners
A television news reporter contacts the IRB Administrator after reading a press release describing a federally funded breast cancer prevention study coordinated by an institutional researcher. Study findings might lead to the identification of new genes that might predispose an individual or their family members to breast cancer. The reporter would like to interview the study subjects and their family members who are enrolled in this new study. Which of the following best describes the IRB administrator's action in response to this request?
Refer the inquiry to the media spokesperson
Additional safeguards that may be included in a social and behavioral study may include:
Remove all direct identifiers from the data as soon as possible.
A researcher calls you stating that he plans to submit a proposal to the NIH for a human subjects research study. He wants to know at what point he and his study team must submit COI disclosures to comply with the PHS regulation.
Researchers must only submit COI disclosures if they have a significant financial interest related to the research
Which of the following are the three principles discussed in the Belmont Report?
Respect for Persons, Beneficence, Justice
What statement about risks in social and behavioral sciences research is most accurate:
Risks are specific to time, situation, and culture.
In a longitudinal study that will follow children from kindergarten through high school and will collect information about illegal activities, which of the following confidentiality procedures would protect against compelled disclosure of individually identifiable information?
Securing a Certificate of Confidentiality
Indicate which of the following statements is correct:
The IRB administrator ensures that the interpretation of policies or SOPs is made available to researchers and research staff.
Which one of the following statements is true?
The IRB administrator is responsible for ensuring the development and maintenance of policies or standard operating procedures that provide consistency and structure to the human research protection program.
A therapist at a free university clinic treats elementary school children with behavior problems who are referred by a social service agency. She is also a doctoral candidate who proposes using data she has and will collect about the children for a case-based research project. Which of the following statements about parental permission is correct?
The parents of the children might feel pressure to give permission to the therapist to use their children's data so that she will continue to provide services to their children.
According to the federal regulations, research is eligible for exemption, if:
The research falls into one of eight categories of research activity described in the regulations.
When a focus group deals with a potentially sensitive topic, which of the following statements about providing confidentiality to focus group participants is correct?
The researcher cannot control what participants repeat about others outside the group.
A researcher leaves a research file in her car while she attends a concert and her car is stolen. The file contains charts of aggregated numerical data from a research study with human subjects, but no other documents. The consent form said that no identifying information would be retained, and the researcher adhered to that component. Which of the following statements best characterizes what occurred?
There was neither a violation of privacy nor a breach of confidentiality.
The HIPAA "minimum necessary" standard applies...
To all human subjects research that uses PHI without an authorization from the data subject.