title: US Military Service Members' Reasons for Deciding to Participate in Health Research.
abstract: Researchers have reported challenges in recruiting US military service members as research participants. We explored their reasons for participating. Eighteen US military service members who had participated in at least one health-related research study within the previous 3 years completed semi-structured individual interviews in person or by telephone, focused on the service members' past decisions regarding research participation. Service members described participation decisions for 34 individual research experiences in 27 separate studies. Service members' reasons for participation in research clustered in three themes: others-, self-, and fit-focused. Each decision included reasons characterized by at least two themes. Reasons from all three themes were apparent in two-thirds of individual participation decisions. Reasons described by at least half of the service members included a desire to make things better for others, to improve an organization, to help researchers, and to improve one's health; understanding how they fit in studies; and convenience of participation. Findings may help researchers, study sponsors, ethicists, military leaders, and military decision-makers better understand service members' reasons for participating in research and improve future recruitment of service members in health research. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
authors.affiliation: Commander, US Navy Nurse Corps, Nurse Scientist, Clinical Investigations Department, Naval Medical Center San Diego, 34800 Bob Wilson Dr., San Diego, CA 92134.
authors.forename: Wendy A
authors.initials: WA
authors.lastname: Cook
authors.affiliation: Lieutenant Colonel, US Army Nurse Corps, Chief, Center for Nursing Science & Clinical Inquiry, Brooke Army Medical Center, Fort Sam Houston, TX.
authors.forename: Kristal C
authors.initials: KC
authors.lastname: Melvin
authors.affiliation: Professor, Biobehavioral Nursing and Health Systems, School of Nursing, University of Washington, Seattle, WA.
authors.forename: Ardith Z
authors.initials: AZ
authors.lastname: Doorenbos
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D035843:Biomedical Research; D003657:Decision Making; D032984:Ethics, Research; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008889:Military Personnel / Q000523:psychology*; D009042:Motivation; D018579:Patient Selection; D036301:Qualitative Research; D035842:Research Subjects / Q000523:psychology*
keywords: altruism; decision-making; military personnel; qualitative description; recruitment and retention; research ethics