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Public Opinions about Participating in Health Research
- Source :
- Canadian Journal of Public Health. 101:159-164
- Publication Year :
- 2010
- Publisher :
- Springer Science and Business Media LLC, 2010.
-
Abstract
- 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
- Subjects :
- Adult
Male
medicine.medical_specialty
Biomedical Research
Research Subjects
Health benefits
Young Adult
Environmental health
Epidemiology
medicine
Humans
Aged
Aged, 80 and over
Government
British Columbia
Public health
Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health
General Medicine
Middle Aged
Patient Acceptance of Health Care
Public Opinion
Family medicine
Female
Privacy law
Quantitative Research
Psychology
Subjects
Details
- ISSN :
- 19207476 and 00084263
- Volume :
- 101
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Canadian Journal of Public Health
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....4a7bcd0120abc4809813900a97f26668