ABSTRACT
Background: The number of protocol-eligible patients, refusing to participate in a biomedical research is often not mentioned in the results of the studies. There are no studies that have looked at the data on willingness to participate in a research among pregnant women in India. The aim of this study is to report the number of pregnant women who refused to participate and to evaluate the reasons for not participating in a research that was concerned with swabbing of the genital tract for culture.Methods: A prospective research study was done among healthy pregnant women, that required collection of vaginal swabs for culture to study the vaginal flora. The women eligible to participate in the study were approached for their willingness to participate in the study. The details of women who refused to participate in the study and the various self-reported reasons for their refusal were documented and analysed.Results: A total 48.2% of the total protocol-eligible group refused to participate in the study and the refusal rate was alarmingly higher than expected. Some of the common responses for their refusal include reasons such as the study involved tests from their private parts, lack of interest to participate and the need to discuss with their partner or that their partner wound not allow them to participate in research.Conclusions: It is important for research studies to include data on the refusal to participate and also the reasons why people refuse to participate in research so as to formulate strategies to improve the acceptance rate for participation in research.