A Web—Based Respondent Driven Sampling Pilot Targeting Young People at Risk for Chlamydia Trachomatis in Social and Sexual Networks with Testing: A Use Evaluation

Abstract

Background: With the aim of targeting high-risk hidden heterosexual young people for Chlamydia trachomatis (CT) testing, an innovative web-based screening strategy using Respondent Driven Sampling (RDS) and home-based CT testing, was developed, piloted and evaluated. Methods: Two STI clinic nurses encouraged 37 CT positive heterosexual young people (aged 16–25 years), called index clients, to recruit peers from their social and sexual networks using the web-based screening strategy. Eligible peers (young, living in the study area) could request a home-based CT test and recruit other peers. Results: Twelve (40%) index clients recruited 35 peers. Two of these peers recruited other peers (n = 7). In total, 35 recruited peers were eligible for participation; ten of them (29%) requested a test and eight tested. Seven tested for the first time and one (13%) was positive. Most peers were female friends (80%). Nurses were positive about using the strategy. Conclusions: The screening strategy is feasible for targeting the hidden social network. However, uptake among men and recruitment of sex-partners is low and RDS stopped early. Future studies are needed to explore the sustainability, cost-effectiveness, and impact of strategies that target people at risk who are not effectively reached by regular health care.

Applications and Recruitment Performance of Web-Based Respondent-Driven Sampling: Scoping Review

“…Six studies took place in the United States [ 8 , 17 - 21 ], 6 studies took place in Western Europe [ 22 - 27 ], 4 studies took place in southeast Asia [ 23 , 28 - 31 ], and 2 studies took place in Oceania [ 32 , 33 ]. Studies were published between 2008 and 2019, with the majority [ 17 , 18 , 22 - 24 , 26 , 27 , 30 , 32 , 33 ] from 2015 onward (see Table 3 ).…”

“…In 12 studies, participants were recruited with the aim of generating population estimates [ 8 , 19 - 23 , 26 , 28 , 29 , 31 - 33 ]; 3 studies aimed to study social networks and contact patterns relevant to the spread of infectious diseases [ 24 , 25 , 28 ], and 3 studies recruited participants for delivering interventions [ 17 , 18 , 27 ].…”

“…Studies focused on a diverse set of target populations: the general population [ 19 , 24 , 25 , 28 , 30 , 32 ], university students [ 8 , 20 ], men who have sex with men [ 23 , 29 , 31 ], individuals who smoke [ 17 ], individuals using wheelchairs [ 33 ], parents of children aged 10 to 14 [ 18 ], people with precarious employment [ 22 ], young adults at risk of chlamydia infection [ 27 ], individuals who have migrated from Syria [ 26 ], and individuals who use marijuana [ 21 ].…”

“…Five studies recruited seeds through online platforms in the form of targeted Facebook advertisements [ 17 - 19 , 32 ] or online participatory research panels [ 24 ] (see Multimedia Appendix 2 ), while 6 studies combined online (eg, online advertisements) with offline platforms, such as interest groups [ 23 , 26 , 28 ], researchers’ social networks [ 22 , 25 , 26 , 28 ], or social venues [ 22 , 26 , 29 , 31 ] and 2 studies only recruited seeds offline—1 at a sexual health clinic [ 27 ] and 1 through a previous research project [ 21 ].…”

Microbial Infections and Male Infertility

“…The main challenge in the chlamydial infection is up to 50% men have asymptomatic infection [46]. Many young people at risk for of CT infection may not seek sexual health care due to the asymptomatic nature of the bacterial infection [47]. HBV infection symptoms include nausea, anorexia, vomiting, flu-like complaints, fatigue, vasculitis, immune complex nephritis, and polyarteritis nodosa.…”