Goldberg Center for Community Pediatric Health, Children's National Hospital, Washington, District of Columbia, United States of America.
Department of Pediatrics, George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Washington, District of Columbia, United States of America.
PLoS One. 2021 Feb 2;16(2):e0246373. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0246373. eCollection 2021.
Respondent driven sampling (RDS) is employed to recruit populations that are hard-to-reach, "hidden," or without a sampling frame. For new mothers (those with infants <6 months) in countries without national health care systems or registries, there is no sampling frame, and random samples may only be attained through costly strategies, e.g., random-dial calling.
To assess the feasibility of RDS to recruit new mothers.
In the initial study, we recruited 30 new mothers ("seeds") from a single birth hospital; each was given 3 referral coupons to give to other mothers ("referrals"). When our sample did not self-perpetuate with referrals, additional seeds were recruited. Demographics of seeds and referrals were compared. A subset of mothers participated in focus groups and were asked about their experience with RDS. We also conducted a second survey of new mothers to further assess feasibility of RDS in this population.
Of the 402 mothers recruited in the initial study, 305 were seeds and only 97 were referrals. Referrals were more likely to be White, highly educated, older, and privately insured (all p≤0.001). Focus group participants indicated that the time required to meet other mothers was an important barrier. In the second survey we recruited 201 mothers; only 53.7% knew ≥1 mother whom they could invite to the study.
New mothers are not easily recruited using RDS because they have a limited number of contacts who are also new mothers. Those recruited through RDS are more likely to be older, Caucasian and of high socioeconomic status, indicating it is not an effective way to recruit a representative sample of new mothers.
应答驱动抽样（RDS）用于招募难以接触、“隐藏”或没有抽样框架的人群。对于没有国家卫生保健系统或登记处的国家的新妈妈（那些有 <6 个月大的婴儿的妈妈），没有抽样框架，只能通过昂贵的策略，例如随机拨号呼叫，获得随机样本。
评估 RDS 招募新妈妈的可行性。
在最初的研究中，我们从一家单一的生育医院招募了 30 名新妈妈（“种子”）；每人获得 3 张转介优惠券，转介给其他妈妈（“转介人”）。当我们的样本没有通过转介自我延续时，招募了更多的种子。比较了种子和转介人的人口统计学特征。一组母亲参加了焦点小组，并被问及他们对 RDS 的体验。我们还对新妈妈进行了第二次调查，以进一步评估 RDS 在该人群中的可行性。
在最初的研究中，共招募了 402 名母亲，其中 305 名为种子，只有 97 名为转介。转介人更有可能是白人、受过高等教育、年龄较大、私人保险（所有 p≤0.001）。焦点小组参与者表示，与其他母亲见面所需的时间是一个重要的障碍。在第二次调查中，我们招募了 201 名母亲；只有 53.7%的人认识≥1 位可以邀请参加研究的母亲。
新妈妈不容易通过 RDS 招募，因为她们的联系人数量有限，而且这些联系人也是新妈妈。通过 RDS 招募的人更有可能是年龄较大、白人和高社会经济地位的人，这表明这不是招募新妈妈有代表性样本的有效方法。
