On-site electronic consent in pediatrics using generic Informed Consent Service (gICS): Creating a specialized setup and collecting consent data

Enrolling in a clinical trial or study requires informed consent. Furthermore, it is crucial to ensure proper consent when storing samples in biobanks for future research, as these samples may be used in studies beyond their initial purpose. For pediatric studies, consent must be obtained from both the child and their legal guardians, requiring the recording of multiple consents at once. Electronic consent has become more popular recently due to its ability to prevent errors and simplify the documentation of multiple consents. However, integrating consent capture into existing study software structures remains a challenge. This report evaluates the usability of the generic Informed Consent Service (gICS) of the University Medicine Greifswald (UMG) for obtaining electronic consent in pediatric studies. The setup was designed to integrate seamlessly with the current infrastructure and meet the specific needs of a multi-user, multi-study environment. The study was conducted in a pediatric research setting, where additional informed consent was obtained separately for the biobank. Over a period of 54 weeks, 1061 children and adolescents aged 3 to 17 years participated in the study. Out of these, 348 agreed also to participate in the biobank. The analysis included a total of 2066 consents and assents, with 945 paper-based and 1121 electronic consents. The study assessed the error susceptibility of electronic versus paper-based consents and found a significant reduction rate of errors of 94.7%. These findings provide valuable insights into the use of gICS in various studies and the practical implementation of electronic consent software in pediatric medicine.