Public Health - Seattle & King County, Seattle, WA, USA.
Ann Epidemiol. 2010 Feb;20(2):159-67. doi: 10.1016/j.annepidem.2009.10.002.
To empirically evaluate respondent-driven sampling (RDS) recruitment methods, which have been proposed as an advantageous means of surveying hidden populations.
The National HIV Behavioral Surveillance system used RDS to recruit 370 injection drug users (IDU) in the Seattle area in 2005 (NHBS-IDU1). We compared the NHBS-IDU1 estimates of participants' area of residence, age, race, sex, and drug most frequently injected to corresponding data from two previous surveys, the RAVEN and Kiwi Studies, and to persons newly diagnosed with HIV/AIDS and reported from 2001 through 2005.
The NHBS-IDU1 population was estimated to be more likely to reside in downtown Seattle (52%) than participants in the other data sources (22%-25%), be older than 50 years of age (29% vs. 5%-10%), and report multiple races (12% vs. 3%-5%). The NHBS-IDU1 population resembled persons using the downtown needle exchange in age and race distribution. An examination of cross-group recruitment frequencies in NHBS-IDU1 suggested barriers to recruitment across different areas of residence, races, and drugs most frequently injected.
The substantial differences in age and area of residence between NHBS-IDU1 and the other data sources suggest that RDS may not have accessed the full universe of Seattle area injection networks. Further empirical data are needed to guide the evaluation of RDS-generated samples.
对响应驱动抽样（RDS）招募方法进行实证评估，该方法被提议作为调查隐蔽人群的有利手段。
国家艾滋病毒行为监测系统（NHBS）于 2005 年使用 RDS 招募了西雅图地区的 370 名注射吸毒者（IDU）（NHBS-IDU1）。我们将 NHBS-IDU1 对参与者居住地区、年龄、种族、性别和最常注射的药物的估计与之前的两项调查（RAVEN 和 Kiwi 研究）以及 2001 年至 2005 年期间新诊断为 HIV/AIDS 并报告的人员的数据进行了比较。
NHBS-IDU1 人群被估计更有可能居住在西雅图市中心（52%），而其他数据源的参与者（22%-25%），年龄在 50 岁以上（29%比 5%-10%），并报告多种族（12%比 3%-5%）。NHBS-IDU1 人群在年龄和种族分布上与使用市中心针头交换的人群相似。对 NHBS-IDU1 中跨组招募频率的检查表明，在不同的居住地区、种族和最常注射的药物方面存在招募障碍。
NHBS-IDU1 与其他数据源在年龄和居住地区方面的显著差异表明，RDS 可能没有覆盖到西雅图地区注射网络的全部范围。需要进一步的实证数据来指导对 RDS 生成样本的评估。
