Offering results to research subjects: U.S. Institutional Review Board policy.

Background: This study aims to determine the nature of United States Institutional Review Board (IRB) policy in a broad spectrum of research settings regarding the return of results to study participants.

Method: IRB policies or standard operating procedures of 207 Medical School, Industry and Non-medical School IRBs were examined on-line to determine if they incorporated specific reference to the return of results to participants at the conclusion of the research.

Results: The majority of IRBs had no available policy regarding the return of research results to participants [56% (n = 116)].