ATTITUDES AND PARTICIPATION OF THE ELDERLY IN POPULATION SURVEYS - DATA FROM A LONGITUDINAL-STUDY ON AGING AND DEMENTIA IN STOCKHOLM

The aim of this article was to assess the attitudes of older adults (a ge >74 years) toward research participation. A questionnaire was maile d to the study population (n = 1197) which included people who had par ticipated in a longitudinal study once, twice, three times, or more. T he participants showed a positive attitude in general as 79% saw an ad vantage of participation and 72% did not report any negative reaction. Older elderly with impaired cognitive functioning and lower education showed the least positive attitude, reporting the first contact and t he cognitive testing as the most stressful situations. The group who h ad participated more than once was the most positive, but more often r efused some parts of the clinical examination. We conclude that: (1) m ore attention is necessary to the initial contact; (2) reduction of st ressful or tiring examinations is recommended; and (3) complete inform ation about the research, including the right to refuse individual par ts of the study, must be given. Such procedures will improve both the quality and the ethics of the research. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Inc.