[Willingness to participate in dementia research by relatives of Alzheimer patients and family members of cognitively normal persons].

We investigated the willingness to participate in dementia research of relatives of demented (n = 52) and cognitively unimpaired elderly individuals (n = 42). This unrepresentative sample was given a questionnaire to determine the rate of approval with respect to two research examples, the first of which referred to a therapeutic study with potential individual benefits, the second to a diagnostic research project without such benefits. Independent of potential individual benefits, an overwhelming majority acknowledged the necessity for dementia research and consented to participate in the given research examples. The rate of approval was not related to the experiences of the interviewed persons in the care of relatives suffering from dementia.