UK Statistics Authority

This presentation aims to communicate the first two year’s work of the UK Statistic Authority’s Centre for Applied Data Ethics (CADE), present key ethical considerations to researchers working with population, administrative and other secondary data, and describe the innovative methods that have been used to review over 700 pieces of research in those two years.
 The CADE was established in February 2021 with the aim of enabling researchers and statisticians, both within government and outside of it, to effectively address potential ethical issues in their use of data for the public good. To assist researchers in practically applying data stewardship principles to their research, an ethics self-assessment tool has been developed. The ethics self-assessment process aims to offer researchers an easy-to-use framework to review the ethics of their own projects throughout the research cycle, whilst promoting a culture of “ethics by design”.
 In two years’ worth of use, the self-assessment tool has been widely adopted across government, academia and the commercial and charities sectors. Analysis of the work that has been supported by this tool has revealed several topics where researchers could further develop their own research. Well designed and communicated research that demonstrates consideration of these factors enables quicker and safer access to data. In response to these findings, CADE have developed specific guidance pieces to assist the analytical community in considering these ethical concerns in their research design and communicating them effectively to ethics bodies and the wider public to ensure effective and consistent data stewardship practices.
 This presentation will support delegates by going into detail in the defining and realising of public good in research, engaging public audiences with research, and considering (and demonstrating) the public view in research design. It will also aid delegates by providing them with a framework that they can use to demonstrate consideration of traditional ethical concerns and also ethical concerns in new, emerging and currently unknown fields.

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Background: Following stroke, people are generally less active and more sedentary which can worsen outcomes. Mobile phone applications (apps) can support change in health behaviors. We developed STARFISH, a mobile phone app-based intervention, which incorporates evidence-based behavior change techniques (feedback, self-monitoring and social support), in which users’ physical activity is visualized by fish swimming.Objective: To evaluate the potential effectiveness of STARFISH in stroke survivors.Method: Twenty-three people with stroke (12 women; age: 56.0 ± 10.0 years, time since stroke: 4.2 ± 4.0 years) from support groups in Glasgow completed the study. Participants were sequentially allocated in a 2:1 ratio to intervention (n = 15) or control (n = 8) groups. The intervention group followed the STARFISH program for six weeks; the control group received usual care. Outcome measures included physical activity, sedentary time, heart rate, blood pressure, body mass index, Fatigue Severity Scale, Instrumental Activity of Daily Living Scale, Ten-Meter Walk Test, Stroke Specific Quality of Life Scale, and Psychological General Well-Being Index.Results: The average daily step count increased by 39.3% (4158 to 5791 steps/day) in the intervention group and reduced by 20.2% (3694 to 2947 steps/day) in the control group (p = 0.005 for group–time interaction). Similar patterns of data and group–time interaction were seen for walking time (p = 0.002) and fatigue (p = 0.003). There were no significant group–time interactions for other outcome measures.Conclusion: Use of STARFISH has the potential to improve physical activity and health outcomes in people after stroke and longer term intervention trials are warranted.

Violence against children from school staff is anecdotally common in low- and middle-income countries, but data on prevalence and associations with mental health and educational outcomes are lacking. We report data from a cross-sectional survey conducted in June and July 2012 in Luwero District, Uganda. Forty-two primary schools representing 80% of students in the district were randomly selected; 100% agreed to participate. The International Society for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect Child Abuse Screening Tool-Child Institutional; Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire; and reading, spelling, and math tests were administered. We present descriptive statistics and logistic regression models, accounting for the complex sampling scheme used in the survey. We surveyed 3706 students and 577 school staff members; 93.3% (SE 1.0%) of boys and 94.2% (SE 1.6%) of girls attending primary school reported lifetime experience of physical violence from a school staff member, and >50% reported experience in the past week. Past-week physical violence was associated with increased odds of poor mental health and, for girls, double the odds of poor educational performance (adjusted odds ratio = 1.78, 95% confidence interval = 1.19-2.66). For boys, significant interactions were present. Despite a ban on corporal punishment in Ugandan schools since 1997, the use of violence against students is widespread and associated with poor mental health and educational performance. School violence may be an important but overlooked contributor to disease burden and poor educational performance in low- and middle-income settings.