Very small articles were published to assess research and related ethics knowledge of paramedical personnel, and specifically, participants were nurses only. In addition, no previous studies had been conducted for administrative team. So, the present study was done on paramedical and administrative teams working at NLI for assessing and rising knowledge and attitude about research, related ethics, and biobanks by educational intervention.
Regarding research participation and knowledge of the study participants, only 18.6 % and 13.9% of paramedical team and administrative teams respectively had a previous participation in a scientific research which is considered to be low participation. This was in contrast with Abouelfettoh and Al Ateeq’s study where 31.2% (206/660) of paramedical nurses had a previous participation on a research [10]. This difference may be due to the fact that in current study paramedical team included technicians who were not interested in doing medical research and nurses who were not yet involved in medical research and had no sufficient opportunities for involving in research.
In the present study, 94.3% and 85.3% of the paramedical team and administrative teams respectively knew that scientific research is important in helping to serve patients which was a high level of knowledge in comparative to Abouelfettoh and Al Ateeq’s study where nurses’ knowledge about research were moderate [10]. This indicates that the NLI paramedical and administrative teams need only opportunity to participate in a research with their high knowledge about research importance.
Regarding research ethics knowledge of the study participants, more than 90% of the paramedical team and two thirds of the administrative team knew about research ethics and knew that doing a research on patient or use their data without their permission is not ethical or permissible. This result was in agreement with Adhikari et al.’s study where 96.5% of nurses knew the importance of confidentiality and patient data security [11] and also in Aliyu et al.’s study where the majority of the nurse participants (82.6%, 114 out of 138 ) possess good knowledge of ethical dilemma [12].
Regarding biobank knowledge of the study participants, unfortunately, only 34.3% and 40.9% of the paramedical team and administrative team respectively knew the presence of the National Liver Institute Research Ethics Committee. This may be due to the low participation in research.
Also, only very small percentage of paramedical and administrative teams knew about biobanks and that there is a biobank at the National Liver Institute. This result was in agreement with Eisenhauer’s study in which the overall knowledge scores were very low [13] and also in Igbe and Adebamowo’s study in Nigeria; the participants had limited knowledge of biobanking and its implications [14]. It has the same results as Ahram et al.’s study [15]. This limited knowledge may be due to the field of biobanking being new with no good public dissemination.
Regarding the education intervention study and knowledge for participants, in the current study, the mean total knowledge scores about research, ethics, and biobank pre-intervention for paramedical and administrative teams were 7.8 ± 2.4 and 7.5 ± 2.7 respectively (out of 13 total score). Actually, intervention education study had a significant increase in mean total knowledge scores for both group post-intervention as 12.2 ± 0.5 for the paramedical team and 12.1 ± 0.5 for the administrative team.
Fortunately, at the current study, the paramedical education intervention study was highly effective in increasing percentage of good knowledge from 21.4% pre-intervention to 100% post-intervention, and this effect was highly statistically significant (p value < 0.001). In addition, the administrative team education intervention study was highly effective in increasing percentage of good knowledge from 21.7% pre-intervention to 100 % post-intervention, and this effect was highly statistically significant (p value < 0.001), which were very impressive results suggesting more and more intervention educations to raise their knowledge.
Regarding research attitude of the study participants, more than 90% of the paramedical team and three quartiles of the administrative team had positive attitude towards continuous medical research. This result was with more positive attitude than Abouelfettoh and Al Ateeq’s study in which nurses’ attitude levels were moderate [10]. Nearly two thirds of the study participants agreed that the employee should be trained in scientific research and nearly three quartiles agreed to participate in research in the future which is indicating good positive attitude towards research.
Regarding research ethics attitude of the study participants, three quartiles of the study participants (paramedical and administrative teams) agreed that research ethics should be taught as a mandatory university course. Also, most of the study participants (92.9% of paramedical and 86.1% of administrative teams) agreed that the Ethics Committee of Scientific Research is useful. This was in agreement with Adhikari et al. study where 98.8% nurses (85 out of 86) agreed that ethics course should be taught in every medical/nursing teaching institution [11].
At the present study, 84.3% of paramedical and 73% of administrative teams agreed that patients should be informed of the full details of the research including risks and benefits and written consent. This was in agreement with Adhikari et al.’s study where 89.5% of nurses agreed that consent is not only for surgeries and it is for any intervention, as well as Aliyu et al.’s study where the majority (83%, 116 out of 140) of the nurse participants admitted that consent should be obtained for both operations and nursing procedure [12].
Regarding biobanks attitude of the study participants, only 47.1% of the paramedical and 52.2% of the administrative team agreed to provide vital sample to help in the diagnosis of diseases in a biobank; also, only 40% of the paramedical and 36.6% of the administrative teams agreed to help in the collection of samples for a biobank. This is in contrast to Alzoubi’s study where there was overwhelming support (> 85%) for the establishment of biobanks in Jordan, and most of the participants agreed on the importance of biobanks and sample donation in promoting medical research [16]. Also, all of interviewees were willing to share their blood sample or donate it to biobank for future use in Sakulthaew et al.’s study, and in Igbe and Adebamowo’s study, the majority of the participants were willing to participate in biobank research for non-communicable diseases [14, 17]. Biobank attitude of the study participants had less positive attitude than research and research ethics attitude; this may be due to their less knowledge about biobanking. But fortunately, 90% of nurses and 65.2% of administratives agreed to assist in the collection of samples for the NLI biobank.
Regarding the education intervention study and attitude for participants, in the current study, the mean total attitude score about research, ethics, and biobank pre-intervention for paramedical and administrative teams were 21.6 ± 2.4 and 20.7 ± 3.3 respectively (out of 26 total score).
Actually, intervention education study had a significant increase in the mean total attitude scores for both groups post-intervention as 25.3 ± 0.9 for the paramedical team and 25.5 ± 0.8 for the administrative team.
Fortunately, at the current study, the paramedical team education intervention study was highly effective in increasing the percentage of positive attitude from 90% pre-intervention to 100% post-intervention, and this effect was highly statistically significant (p value < 0.001). Also, the administrative team education intervention study was highly effective in increasing the percentage of positive attitude from 78.3% pre-intervention to 100% post-intervention, and this effect was highly statistically significant (p value < 0.001).