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Objectives: 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. Key words: Epidemiology; ethics; participation

Background: An apparent excess of teachers and healthcare workers among the Parkinson’s disease patients of a large tertiary care movement disorders clinic suggested the hypothesis that high exposure to viral (or other) respiratory infections in these occupations might be a risk factor for Parkinson’s disease. Methods: A case-control study of the association between occupation and Parkinson’s disease was conducted. Cases (414) were all Parkinson’s disease patients seen at the University of British Columbia Hospital Movement Disorders Clinic between 1986 and 1993, residing in Greater Vancouver, and under 65 in 1991. Controls (6,659) were randomly selected from the 1991 Canadian Census. Findings: Parkinson’s disease was associated with teaching (OR 2.50, 95% CI 1.67–3.74) and occupation in healthcare services (OR 2.07, 95% CI 1.34–3.20), but there were several other substantial associations, both positive and negative. Interpretation: While referral bias cannot be ruled out, the authors find the consistency of the overall pattern of associations with the respiratory infection hypothesis striking.