National Centre in HIV Social Research, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia.
AIDS Behav. 2012 May;16(4):890-9. doi: 10.1007/s10461-011-0032-x.
Respondent-driven sampling (RDS) is a form of chain-referral sampling, similar to snowball sampling, which was developed to reach hidden populations such as people who inject drugs (PWID). RDS is said to reach members of a hidden population that may not be accessible through other sampling methods. However, less attention has been paid as to whether there are segments of the population that are more likely to be missed by RDS. This study examined the ability of RDS to capture people with small injecting networks. A study of PWID, using RDS, was conducted in 2009 in Sydney, Australia. The size of participants' injecting networks was examined by recruitment chain and wave. Participants' injecting network characteristics were compared to those of participants from a separate pharmacy-based study. A logistic regression analysis was conducted to examine the characteristics independently associated with having small injecting networks, using the combined RDS and pharmacy-based samples. In comparison with the pharmacy-recruited participants, RDS participants were almost 80% less likely to have small injecting networks, after adjusting for other variables. RDS participants were also more likely to have their injecting networks form a larger proportion of those in their social networks, and to have acquaintances as part of their injecting networks. Compared to those with larger injecting networks, individuals with small injecting networks were equally likely to engage in receptive sharing of injecting equipment, but less likely to have had contact with prevention services. These findings suggest that those with small injecting networks are an important group to recruit, and that RDS is less likely to capture these individuals.
应答式驱动抽样（RDS）是一种链式 referral 抽样方法，类似于雪球抽样，旨在覆盖隐蔽人群，如注射毒品者（PWID）。据说 RDS 可以覆盖其他抽样方法可能无法接触到的隐蔽人群。然而，人们对是否存在 RDS 更有可能错过的人群部分关注较少。本研究探讨了 RDS 捕捉小注射网络人群的能力。2009 年，在澳大利亚悉尼对注射毒品者进行了一项使用 RDS 的研究。通过招募链和波，检查了参与者的注射网络规模。将参与者的注射网络特征与来自单独的基于药房的研究的参与者进行比较。使用组合的 RDS 和基于药房的样本，进行逻辑回归分析，以检查与具有小注射网络独立相关的特征。与药房招募的参与者相比，在调整其他变量后，RDS 参与者具有小注射网络的可能性降低了近 80%。RDS 参与者的注射网络也更有可能构成其社交网络中的较大比例，并且熟人是其注射网络的一部分。与具有较大注射网络的个体相比，具有小注射网络的个体同样可能参与接受性共享注射设备，但与预防服务的接触可能性较小。这些发现表明，具有小注射网络的个体是一个重要的招募群体，而 RDS 不太可能招募这些个体。
