Review of the Level of Human Codes Protection in Research Carried Out by Dentistry Students from 2001 to 2015 in Isfahan University of Medical Sciences Based on the Dissertations

Since compliance with ethical codes in dental research has not received much attention, the aim of this study was to evaluate the observance of ethical codes approved by the National Ethics Committee on clinical research carried out during in 2001‒2015 in Isfahan Dental School.
This cross-sectional descriptive/analytical study was conducted on 361 dissertations available in Esfahan Dental School from 2001 to 2015 (over a period of 15 years), consisting of research involving human beings. Compliance with ethical codes in these dissertations was evaluated. The dissertations were divided into three 5-year periods as follows: from 2001 to 2005, 2006 to 2010 and 2011 to 2015. Data were analyzed with chi-squared test.
In 239 cases (68.7%), consent has been obtained from the subjects and in 243 cases (67.3%) the subjects were enrolled with full consent without any obligation. In 184 cases (54.8%) of dissertations, explanations had been provided for the subjects about the methodology and its advantages and disadvantages, and their questions had been answered.
Based on the results of this review, it appears compliance with ethical codes in human research has a long way to reach an ideal level; however, comparison of compliance with ethical codes between the 5-year periods reflects improvements in compliance with medical ethics in research.