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bioRxiv · 10.1101/2022.02.11.480067

The Genetics of Participation: Method and Analysis

Benonisdottir, S.·Kong, A.
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Abstract

Participation in a genetic study likely has a genetic component. Identifying such component is difficult as we cannot compare genetic information of participants with non-participants directly, the latter being unavailable. Here, we show that alleles that are more common in participants than non-participants would be further enriched in genetic segments shared by two related participants. Genome-wide analysis was performed by comparing allele frequencies in shared and not-shared genetic segments of first-degree relative pairs of the UK Biobank. A polygenic score constructed from that analysis, in non-overlapping samples, is associated with educational attainment (P = 2.1 x 10-52), body mass index (P = 1.5 x 10-19), and participation in a dietary study (P = 6.9 x 10-21). Further analysis shows that inclination to participate is a behavioural trait in its own right, and not simply a consequence of other established phenotypes. Understanding the basis of this trait is important for data analyses and the design of future surveys, genetic or otherwise.

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Benonisdottir, S., Kong, A.. 2022-02-14. The Genetics of Participation: Method and Analysis. https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.02.11.480067

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