Glass D C, Kelsall H L, Slegers C, Forbes A B, Loff B, Zion D, Fritschi L
Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, The Alfred Centre, 99 Commercial Rd, Melbourne, 3004, VIC, Australia.
VU Human Research Ethics Committee, Office For Research, FP, Victoria University, PO Box 14428, Melbourne, VIC, 8001, Australia.
BMC Public Health. 2015 Oct 5;15:1017. doi: 10.1186/s12889-015-2350-9.
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.
近年来，在所有流行病学研究设计中，无论是无应答还是拒绝参与，参与度都有所下降。低应答率可能会降低统计效力，但更重要的是，研究结果可能无法推广至更广泛的人群。
在一项对1413名随机抽取的澳大利亚普通民众以及690名来自先前研究的参与者的电话调查中，我们研究了影响人们表示愿意参与健康研究的因素。
大多数参与者（61%）总体上表示愿意参与健康研究，但当提供有关该研究的更具体信息时，这一比例会上升。如果人们对所研究的疾病有个人经历，并且研究由政府或慈善机构而非制药公司资助，他们会更愿意参与。来自先前研究的参与者、老年人和女性是最愿意参与的群体。年轻男性更喜欢在线调查，老年人更喜欢书面问卷，任何年龄和性别的参与者中很少有人更喜欢电话问卷。
尽管参与率有下降趋势，但大多数参与者表示愿意参与健康研究。然而，在寻找参与者时，研究人员应该对他们想要开展的研究的性质具体明确。推荐的首选联系方式因人口统计学特征而异。
