Public opinions about participating in health research.
OBJECTIVE
Privacy legislation has limited options for recruiting subjects to health studies. Policy changes are motivated by assumptions about public attitudes towards participation, yet surveys of attitudes have rarely been done. We investigated public willingness to participate in health research and how willingness was affected by various factors.


METHODS
A survey of adults randomly selected from the telephone directory was conducted in British Columbia, Canada. Mailed self-administered questionnaires asked about willingness to participate in health research and the influence on willingness of the method of subject selection, the organization making the contact, and other factors.


RESULTS
There were 1,477 respondents (58% of eligible); 85% were willing to participate in health research at least sometimes. The organization making the contact influenced comfort about participation: 10% of respondents felt uncomfortable if contacted by a university, 12% if by a hospital, 26% if by government, and 55% if by private research firms. Factors most positively influencing choice to participate were future health benefits to society (87%) and oneself (87%), and receiving a copy of the study results (81%).


CONCLUSIONS
Participation in health research appears to be viewed favourably by members of the public, and participation may be highest when university or hospital-based researchers are able to contact subjects directly using information from government databases.
School of Population and Public Health, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z3. kay.teschke@ubc.ca
Kay
K
Teschke
Suhail
S
Marino
Rong
R
Chu
Joseph K C
JK
Tsui
M Anne
MA
Harris
Stephen A
SA
Marion
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D035843:Biomedical Research; D001955:British Columbia; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care; D011639:Public Opinion; D035842:Research Subjects / Q000523:psychology*; D055815:Young Adult