A telephone survey of factors affecting willingness to participate in health research surveys

In recent years, reduced participation has been encountered across all epidemiological study designs, both in terms of non-response as well as refusal. A low response rate may reduce the statistical power but, more importantly, results may not be generalizable to the wider community. In a telephone...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:BMC public health 2015-10, Vol.15 (1), p.1017-1017, Article 1017
Main Authors: Glass, D C, Kelsall, H L, Slegers, C, Forbes, A B, Loff, B, Zion, D, Fritschi, L
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Adult
Age Distribution
Aged
Australia
Cancer
Charities
Data collection
Epidemiology
Female
Health Surveys - methods
Health Surveys - statistics & numerical data
Humans
Interviews
Interviews as Topic
Male
Medical research
Medicine, Experimental
Middle Aged
Mortality
Native peoples
Participation
Polls & surveys
Population
Public opinion
Qualitative research
Questionnaires
Research Design
Research Subjects - statistics & numerical data
Response rates
Sex Distribution
Studies
Surveys
Young Adult
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Summary:In recent years, reduced participation has been encountered across all epidemiological study designs, both in terms of non-response as well as refusal. A low response rate may reduce the statistical power but, more importantly, results may not be generalizable to the wider community. In a telephone survey of 1413 randomly selected members of the Australian general population and of 690 participants sourced from previous studies, we examined factors affecting people's stated willingness to participate in health research. The majority of participants (61 %) expressed willingness to participate in health research in general but the percentage increased when provided with more specific information about the research. People were more willing if they have personal experience of the disease under study, and if the study was funded by government or charity rather than pharmaceutical companies. Participants from previous studies, older people and women were the groups most willing to participate. Younger men preferred online surveys, older people a written questionnaire, and few participants in any age and sex groups preferred a telephone questionnaire. Despite a trend toward reduced participation rates, most participants expressed their willingness to participate in health research. However, when seeking participants, researchers should be concrete and specific about the nature of the research they want to carry out. The preferred method of recommended contact varies with the demographic characteristics.
ISSN:1471-2458
1471-2458
DOI:10.1186/s12889-015-2350-9