Employing Respondent Driven Sampling (RDS) to recruit people who inject drugs (PWID) and other hard-to-reach populations during COVID-19: Lessons learned
BackgroundRespondent Driven Sampling (RDS) is an effective sampling strategy to recruit hard-to-reach populations but the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the use of this strategy in the collection of data involving human subjects, particularly among marginalized and vulnerable populations, is not...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Frontiers Media S.A.
2022-10-01
|
| Series: | Frontiers in Psychiatry |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2022.990055/full |
| _version_ | 1811205125255987200 |
|---|---|
| author | Roberto Abadie Patrick Habecker Kimberly Gocchi Carrasco Kathy S. Chiou Samodha Fernando Sydney J. Bennett Sydney J. Bennett Aníbal Valentin-Acevedo Kirk Dombrowski John T. West Charles Wood Charles Wood |
| author_facet | Roberto Abadie Patrick Habecker Kimberly Gocchi Carrasco Kathy S. Chiou Samodha Fernando Sydney J. Bennett Sydney J. Bennett Aníbal Valentin-Acevedo Kirk Dombrowski John T. West Charles Wood Charles Wood |
| author_sort | Roberto Abadie |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | BackgroundRespondent Driven Sampling (RDS) is an effective sampling strategy to recruit hard-to-reach populations but the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the use of this strategy in the collection of data involving human subjects, particularly among marginalized and vulnerable populations, is not known. Based on an ongoing study using RDS to recruit and study the interactions between HIV infection, injection drug use, and the microbiome in Puerto Rico, this paper explores the effectiveness of RDS during the pandemic and provided potential strategies that could improve recruitment and data collection.ResultsRDS was employed to evaluate its effectiveness in recruiting a group of people who inject drugs (PWID) and controls (N = 127) into a study in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. The participants were distributed among three subsets: 15 were HIV+ and PWID, 58 were HIV- PWID, and 54 were HIV+ and not PWID.FindingsResults show that recruitment through peer networks using RDS was possible across all sub-groups. Yet, while those in the HIV+ PWID sub-group managed to recruit from other-sub groups of HIV- PWID and HIV+, this occurred at a lower frequency.ConclusionDespite the barriers introduced by COVID-19, it is clear that even in this environment, RDS continues to play a powerful role in recruiting hard-to-reach populations. Yet, more attention should be paid at how future pandemics, natural disasters, and other big events might affect RDS recruitment of vulnerable and hard-to-reach populations. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-12T03:25:13Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-86640288a01e41fd81cc3b0322a289a4 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1664-0640 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-12T03:25:13Z |
| publishDate | 2022-10-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Psychiatry |
| spelling | doaj.art-86640288a01e41fd81cc3b0322a289a42022-12-22T03:49:45ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Psychiatry1664-06402022-10-011310.3389/fpsyt.2022.990055990055Employing Respondent Driven Sampling (RDS) to recruit people who inject drugs (PWID) and other hard-to-reach populations during COVID-19: Lessons learnedRoberto Abadie0Patrick Habecker1Kimberly Gocchi Carrasco2Kathy S. Chiou3Samodha Fernando4Sydney J. Bennett5Sydney J. Bennett6Aníbal Valentin-Acevedo7Kirk Dombrowski8John T. West9Charles Wood10Charles Wood11School of Global and Integrative Studies, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE, United StatesDepartment of Sociology, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE, United StatesDepartment of Sociology, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE, United StatesDepartment of Psychology, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE, United StatesDepartment of Animal Science, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE, United StatesSchool of Biological Sciences, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE, United StatesDepartment of Interdisciplinary Oncology, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, Louisiana Cancer Research Center, New Orleans, LA, United StatesDepartment of Microbiology and Immunology, Universidad Central del Caribe, Bayamón, PR, United StatesUniversity of Vermont, Burlington, VT, United StatesDepartment of Interdisciplinary Oncology, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, Louisiana Cancer Research Center, New Orleans, LA, United StatesSchool of Biological Sciences, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE, United StatesDepartment of Interdisciplinary Oncology, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, Louisiana Cancer Research Center, New Orleans, LA, United StatesBackgroundRespondent Driven Sampling (RDS) is an effective sampling strategy to recruit hard-to-reach populations but the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the use of this strategy in the collection of data involving human subjects, particularly among marginalized and vulnerable populations, is not known. Based on an ongoing study using RDS to recruit and study the interactions between HIV infection, injection drug use, and the microbiome in Puerto Rico, this paper explores the effectiveness of RDS during the pandemic and provided potential strategies that could improve recruitment and data collection.ResultsRDS was employed to evaluate its effectiveness in recruiting a group of people who inject drugs (PWID) and controls (N = 127) into a study in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. The participants were distributed among three subsets: 15 were HIV+ and PWID, 58 were HIV- PWID, and 54 were HIV+ and not PWID.FindingsResults show that recruitment through peer networks using RDS was possible across all sub-groups. Yet, while those in the HIV+ PWID sub-group managed to recruit from other-sub groups of HIV- PWID and HIV+, this occurred at a lower frequency.ConclusionDespite the barriers introduced by COVID-19, it is clear that even in this environment, RDS continues to play a powerful role in recruiting hard-to-reach populations. Yet, more attention should be paid at how future pandemics, natural disasters, and other big events might affect RDS recruitment of vulnerable and hard-to-reach populations.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2022.990055/fullRespondent Driven Samplingrecruitmentpeople who inject drugs (PWID)HIVCOVID-19Puerto Rico |
| spellingShingle | Roberto Abadie Patrick Habecker Kimberly Gocchi Carrasco Kathy S. Chiou Samodha Fernando Sydney J. Bennett Sydney J. Bennett Aníbal Valentin-Acevedo Kirk Dombrowski John T. West Charles Wood Charles Wood Employing Respondent Driven Sampling (RDS) to recruit people who inject drugs (PWID) and other hard-to-reach populations during COVID-19: Lessons learned Frontiers in Psychiatry Respondent Driven Sampling recruitment people who inject drugs (PWID) HIV COVID-19 Puerto Rico |
| title | Employing Respondent Driven Sampling (RDS) to recruit people who inject drugs (PWID) and other hard-to-reach populations during COVID-19: Lessons learned |
| title_full | Employing Respondent Driven Sampling (RDS) to recruit people who inject drugs (PWID) and other hard-to-reach populations during COVID-19: Lessons learned |
| title_fullStr | Employing Respondent Driven Sampling (RDS) to recruit people who inject drugs (PWID) and other hard-to-reach populations during COVID-19: Lessons learned |
| title_full_unstemmed | Employing Respondent Driven Sampling (RDS) to recruit people who inject drugs (PWID) and other hard-to-reach populations during COVID-19: Lessons learned |
| title_short | Employing Respondent Driven Sampling (RDS) to recruit people who inject drugs (PWID) and other hard-to-reach populations during COVID-19: Lessons learned |
| title_sort | employing respondent driven sampling rds to recruit people who inject drugs pwid and other hard to reach populations during covid 19 lessons learned |
| topic | Respondent Driven Sampling recruitment people who inject drugs (PWID) HIV COVID-19 Puerto Rico |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2022.990055/full |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT robertoabadie employingrespondentdrivensamplingrdstorecruitpeoplewhoinjectdrugspwidandotherhardtoreachpopulationsduringcovid19lessonslearned AT patrickhabecker employingrespondentdrivensamplingrdstorecruitpeoplewhoinjectdrugspwidandotherhardtoreachpopulationsduringcovid19lessonslearned AT kimberlygocchicarrasco employingrespondentdrivensamplingrdstorecruitpeoplewhoinjectdrugspwidandotherhardtoreachpopulationsduringcovid19lessonslearned AT kathyschiou employingrespondentdrivensamplingrdstorecruitpeoplewhoinjectdrugspwidandotherhardtoreachpopulationsduringcovid19lessonslearned AT samodhafernando employingrespondentdrivensamplingrdstorecruitpeoplewhoinjectdrugspwidandotherhardtoreachpopulationsduringcovid19lessonslearned AT sydneyjbennett employingrespondentdrivensamplingrdstorecruitpeoplewhoinjectdrugspwidandotherhardtoreachpopulationsduringcovid19lessonslearned AT sydneyjbennett employingrespondentdrivensamplingrdstorecruitpeoplewhoinjectdrugspwidandotherhardtoreachpopulationsduringcovid19lessonslearned AT anibalvalentinacevedo employingrespondentdrivensamplingrdstorecruitpeoplewhoinjectdrugspwidandotherhardtoreachpopulationsduringcovid19lessonslearned AT kirkdombrowski employingrespondentdrivensamplingrdstorecruitpeoplewhoinjectdrugspwidandotherhardtoreachpopulationsduringcovid19lessonslearned AT johntwest employingrespondentdrivensamplingrdstorecruitpeoplewhoinjectdrugspwidandotherhardtoreachpopulationsduringcovid19lessonslearned AT charleswood employingrespondentdrivensamplingrdstorecruitpeoplewhoinjectdrugspwidandotherhardtoreachpopulationsduringcovid19lessonslearned AT charleswood employingrespondentdrivensamplingrdstorecruitpeoplewhoinjectdrugspwidandotherhardtoreachpopulationsduringcovid19lessonslearned |