Research article 59 EMHJ – Vol. 27 No. 1 – 2021 Willingness and determinants of participation in public health research: a cross-sectional study in Saudi Arabia Aljoharah Algabbani, 1 Amani Alqahtani 1 and Nasser BinDhim 1 1 Saudi Food and Drug Authority, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (Correspondence to: A. Algabbani: amgabbani@sfda.gov.sa) Introduction Active community participation in research has a posi- tive impact on public health. Engaging community mem- bers in the research process empowers them to improve their community health (1,2). The active participation of diverse members of society in research studies ensures that the study sample is representative and the research is relevant to the needs of its target population (3). Commu- nity participation is also important for the development and implementation of evidence-based interventions and public health policy that target the community’s needs (4). Moreover, public involvement in health research af- fects community awareness and support for science and research (5,6). Community participation makes a valuable contribution to health research by fostering the research process and improving the generalization and enhancing the credibility of the results. Insuffcient and low recruitment rates of research participants is costly because they delay study completion and increase its expense (7,8). Low research participation can lead to ineffective translation of study fndings to meet the target group’s needs (3). Likewise, low enrolment in research studies can lead to potential sampling bias and affect the validity of the study and generalization of the results (9,10). However, the public is still not fully aware of the value their participation in research has on enriching and improving health (9). In Saudi Arabia, there are several challenges associated with conducting health research. One of these is associated with recruiting the target number of research participants. Most studies that investigate health issues in Saudi Arabia are small and target metropolitan cities, such as Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam (11–15). In a Saudi national survey conducted through telephone interviews, female sample quotas in some regions were diffcult to reach (16). Health and clinical studies face challenges in recruiting participants, which is due to research infrastructure, accessibility issues, and the limited number of research data resources (7,17,18). Rapid development of the health sector and expansion of the population have increased the demand for health research (9,19). Increasing community participation and engagement in research is an integral part of the research process that contributes to health advances and improves quality of life (6,19). This study was conducted Abstract Background: Active participation in health research plays an integral role in the development and implementation of evidence-based health interventions and policies. Aims: To assess public willingness and determinants of participation in public health research. Methods: A cross-sectional survey targeting Saudi residents aged > 16 years from the 13 regions of Saudi Arabia, using computer-assisted telephone interviews. We assessed the sociodemographic of participants, participants’ involvement in research, their acceptance to participate, barriers hindering their participation, and their willingness to be involved in future health research. Pearson’s χ 2 and logistic regression analyses were used to explore determinants. Results: There were 2512 participants in this study. Three hundred and seventy one (14.8%) confrmed that they had been invited previously to participate in research studies and 271 (73%) accepted the invitation. The majority (92%, n = 2319) of participants were willing to participate in future research. Being a young adult, male, college-educated, and employed were the main factors associated with willingness to participate in health research. Those who had previous experience of participation in health research were 3 times more willing to participate in future health research compared with partici- pants with no prior experience (P < 0.001). Conclusions: This study highlighted the key determinants of willingness to participate in health research. Most partic- ipants had never been invited to participate in health research, but the majority reported a positive attitude towards par- ticipation. With rapid health system development nationally and regionally, Saudi participation levels in health research still need improvement. Keywords: community involvement; medical research; public health; research awareness; research participation Citation: Algabbani A; Alqahtani A; BinDhim N. Willingness and determinants of participation in public health research: a cross-sectional study in Saudi Arabia. East Mediterr Health J. 2021;27(1):59-66. https://doi.org/10.26719/emhj.20.080 Received: 18/09/19: accepted: 13/01/20 Copyright © World Health Organization (WHO) 2021. Open Access. Some rights reserved. This work is available under the CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/igo)