Ethical issues in epidemiology

There are several major ethical issues that face an epidemiological study. There is always the challenge in studying free-living individuals in the modern society, of balancing the needs for robust methods with individual freedoms. The key concerns reflect ensuring an appropriate consent process, maintaining confidentiality, and minimizing any negative consequences for a participant. The most commonly collected information for an epidemiological study come either from material already available in databases, material such as hard copies of records that can have key data items extracted, or data that is gathered directly from the subject. Occasionally a limited physical examination is undertaken. Much less often, there is a requirement to take samples of biological fluid such as blood and urine, or to undergo simple investigations such as electrocardiography or plain radiography, but even such investigations are typically associated with trivial risk to health.