https://www.surveymonkey.ca/r/chemical_exposure
This study is entitled Chemical Exposure and Female Reproductive Health and will be conducted by Kyley Drach (email: kyley-drach@mytru.ca), a master’s student at Thompson Rivers University, under the supervision of Dr. Heidi Huttunen-Hennelly, Dr. Kingsley Donkor, and Dr. Mark Rakobowchuk. This study examines various areas of potential chemical exposure in a woman’s life and how this can impact her reproductive health. If it is found that chemical exposure can influence reproductive health, we will aim to determine which routes of chemical exposure seem to have the greatest effect. There is no direct benefit to you by partaking in this study, but the data collected will provide researchers with a better understanding of whether chemical exposure is related to women’s reproductive health. This information can help to shape future research projects related to this topic.
As a participant in this study, you will be asked to complete the following one-time survey, which will take between 45-60 minutes to complete. You are not required to complete the entire survey in one sitting, and you may come back later to edit your questions or continue the survey. There are a total of 6 pages with various numbers of questions per page, where one full page is submitted at a time. If you do not submit a full page of responses at a time, some of your responses might not be saved. After you have submitted your survey in full you will not be able to go back and edit your responses. The questions in this survey are divided into the following sections: General Personal Information, Socioeconomic Status, Reproductive Health, Product Use, General Health, and Mental Health. There are no known risks associated with participating in this study. However, there are questions in this survey that may cause emotional distress in certain individuals including questions on alcohol consumption, drug use, and mental health. Sensitive questions will have an option of “prefer not to say” if you are uncomfortable answering these questions. If these questions are at all distressing to you, please feel free to withdraw at any point within the study. You can also reach out to the counselling service that are listed below for help.
Mental Health:
Crisis Services Canada
https://www.crisisservicescanada.ca/en/looking-for-local-resources-support/
Alcohol and Drug Use:
Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction
https://www.ccsa.ca/addictions-treatment-helplines-canada
Data will be recorded in a secure online database and subjects will be identified only by an assigned number.
The data collected will be summarized and used for the researcher’s master’s thesis, which will be submitted to the faculty supervisor and master’s committee for review. If applicable, this research may be published in a scientific journal. The only individuals who will have access to the raw data will be the students who conduct this research and her faculty supervisor and master’s committee. All data collected will be archived anonymously for potential further study.
This initial agreement does not obligate you in any way to fully complete the online survey if you later decide you do not wish to participate. If the study is not fully completed, your data will be removed from the study. You can withdraw from the study at any time without any negative repercussions.
If you have any questions about this study or need clarification on any questions, please contact Kyley Drach (researcher) at kyley-drach@mytru.ca or Dr. Mark Rakobowchuk (secondary investigator) at mrakobowchuk@tru.ca. If you have any concerns about this study, please contact Dr. Gregory Anderson (TRU Dean of Science) at ganderson@tru.ca or 250.852.7137, or the Chair of the Research Ethics Board (REB) at TRU-REB@tru.ca or 250.828.5000.