• Grace Muzanyi, Isaac Sekitoleko, John L Johnson, Jane Lunkuse, Gladys Nalugwa, Joanita Nassali, and David Kaawa Mafigiri.
• Uganda-Case Western Reserve University Research Collaboration, Kampala, Uganda.
• Afr Health Sci. 2020 Jun 1; 20 (2): 955-959.

BackgroundLow education levels and language barriers present challenges in obtaining informed consent for clinical research.ObjectiveTo describe and correlate the association between the level of education and the participant's preferred language of consent.DesignDescriptive-analytical cross-sectional study.ParticipantsAdults being consented for participation in tuberculosis(TB) research studies in an East African community with varying levels of education.ProceduresWe analyzed data on demographic and educational characteristics collected from adults being consented for participation in TB studies .Only participants who could understand and speak Luganda (the main local language) or English (the official language of Uganda) were included in this analysis.ResultsA total of 523 participants were consented between April 2015 and December 2017 and included in this analysis; 250 below Senior four (< 11yrs of education), 114 senior four (at 11yrs of education),73 senior five-senior six (12-13yrs of education) and 86 beyond senior six (> 13yrs of education). We noted that the preference for English rises with the rising levels of education and peaked at beyond senior six (83%Vs17%,OR=49,95%CI:22.8-106.3,p<0.001).Participants below senior four preferred Luganda Vs senior four and above(OR=16.9,95%CI:9.9-28.8,p<0.001).ConclusionRising education levels of participants were associated with preference for English language usage during initial consent for clinical research studies.© 2020 Muzanyi G et al.

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