Willingness to participate in health research: Tunisian survey

BACKGROUND: Few studies have identified the willingness rate of developing countries population to be enrolled in clinical trials. METHODS: All participants including patients (n = 612), healthy volunteers (n = 354) and doctors (n = 134) completed a questionnaire to examine factors affecting the consent to participate in medical research. RESULTS: Overall, 80 % of the included population agree to participate in health research. This rate was lower for trials dealing with life-threatening diseases (38 %). Altruism and perceived risk of harm were the main reason to respectively accept or refuse to participate in clinical trials. Factors significantly associated with willingness were: age <40 years (Odds Ratio (OR) 1.6 [95 % Confidence Interval (CI) 1.2-2.1]) and prior history of blood donation (OR 2.4 [95 % CI 1.7-3.5]). CONCLUSION: Most participants expressed their willingness to be included in medical research especially if they are young or if they have history of blood donation. However, consent to participate is low when medical research required acute care. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12910-016-0131-3) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.