Donaldson Sarah R, Radley Andrew, Dillon John F
School of Medicine, University of Dundee, Dundee DD1 9SY, UK.
Directorate of Public Health, NHS Tayside, Dundee DD3 8EA, UK.
Diagnostics (Basel). 2021 Jan 25;11(2):170. doi: 10.3390/diagnostics11020170.
People who, after a period of drug use, have changed their lifestyle and left substance use behind them are a hidden population within our communities. Lack of contact with drug services may mean that they are not tested for hepatitis C (HCV) infection through service-led initiatives and, therefore, may be exposed to the chronic morbidity and risk of death inherent with a legacy of HCV infection. This study utilized respondent-driven sampling (RDS) in a novel fashion to find those at historical risk of HCV. The social networks of people with a history of drug use were mapped, and individuals not currently in contact with services were invited to come forward for testing by members of their social network. The study used a reference group to inform study methodology and communication methods to reach out to this hidden population. One hundred and nine individuals received dry blood spot tests for HCV, 17.4% were antibody positive. Fifty one individuals met the inclusion criteria for this study. One hundred and twenty three invite-to-test coupons were issued; however, only one wave of recruitment consisting of one participant resulted from this method. Using RDS in historical social networks was not effective in this study and did not reach this hidden population and increase testing for HCV. This study is registered with clinicaltrials.gov (Ref NCT03697135).
在经历一段时间的药物使用后，改变了生活方式并戒除毒品的人群是我们社区中的一个隐蔽群体。由于缺乏与毒品服务机构的接触，这可能意味着他们没有通过服务主导的举措接受丙型肝炎（HCV）感染检测，因此，可能会面临HCV感染遗留下来的慢性发病风险和死亡风险。本研究以一种新颖的方式利用应答驱动抽样（RDS）来寻找有HCV历史风险的人群。绘制了有吸毒史人群的社交网络，并邀请目前未与服务机构接触的个人由其社交网络成员前来接受检测。该研究使用了一个参考组来为研究方法和沟通方式提供信息，以接触到这个隐蔽群体。109人接受了HCV干血斑检测，17.4%的人抗体呈阳性。51人符合本研究的纳入标准。发放了123张邀请检测券；然而，这种方法仅产生了一波由一名参与者组成的招募。在本研究中，在历史社交网络中使用RDS并不有效，未能接触到这个隐蔽群体，也未增加HCV检测。本研究已在clinicaltrials.gov注册（参考编号NCT03697135）。
