Children's knowledge of the terms of informed assent

Abstract The objective of this study is to describe the knowledge of children and adolescents regarding the information disclosed by the terms of assent used in pediatric clinical research, and report the attitudes of the participants. It is an experimental study with a quantitative approach, conducted in cities in the Northeast of Minas Gerais, Brazil, with 142 participants from 7 to 15 years old, chosen for a clinical study of schistosomiasis. These children and adolescents participated in the assent process using the corresponding term. We evaluated the participants through a semi-structured questionnaire. The average knowledge of participants regarding the survey information was 41.22%, with only 1.4% having a high level of knowledge. This study concluded that most children are unaware of the information regarding the research and were unaware of their rights as research participants.