The Use of Respondent-Driven Sampling to Recruit At-Risk Minority Men Who Have Sex with Men in Massachusetts

Abstract

This study assessed the ability of a modified respondent-driven sampling (RDS) method to recruit racial and ethnic minority men who have sex with men (MSM) at risk for HIV and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs). We used a modified RDS technique, a relatively new method of chain-referral sampling, to recruit 50 MSM in Greater Boston for a behavioral survey and interview. Traditional recruitment methods used by Fenway Community Health, a community-based health care and research facility, yield samples comprised of 15% to 30% racial/ethnic minority MSM. The present study recruited a sample of 60% racial/ethnic minority MSM, a significant difference from these earlier studies (all p values < .0001). Forty-five percent of the sample reported an annual income of less than $12,000, and 17% did not always have a regular place to live in the past year. Sixty-six percent of respondents were HIV infected; 43% reported a prior STI diagnosis. This study provides evidence that a modified RDS strategy can effectively engage at-risk racial/ethnic minority MSM, which has important implications for

What Makes a Respondent-Driven Sampling “Seed” Productive? Example of Finding At-Risk Massachusetts Men Who Have Sex with Men

“…[1][2][3] Through the use of mathematical modeling and under certain strong assumptions to compensate for potential recruitment bias, RDS has been regarded as an innovative and useful means for accessing a potentially representative sample of difficult-to-reach populations at risk for or living with HIV, including injection drug users, sex workers, and men who have sex with men (MSM), both domestically and internationally. [4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15] Prior studies utilizing RDS to sample MSM have compared RDS to snowball, targeted, and time-location sampling. 9,16 In these comparisons, RDS performed similarly on ability to recruit, demonstrating the potential to successfully reach highly marginalized populations.…”

Converting, Monitoring, and Policing PrEP Citizenship: Biosexual Citizenship and the PrEP Surveillance Regime

“…This was not a formal policy analysis, but triangulating participant claims with formal documents. We recruited participants using a respondent-driven sampling (RDS) scheme (see Johnson et al 2010). Traditional snowball convenience samples overly privilege the networks of a few active participants motivated to influence the study aims by allowing unlimited referrals from whomever wants to join the study and offering no incentive to recruit.…”

“…Traditional snowball convenience samples overly privilege the networks of a few active participants motivated to influence the study aims by allowing unlimited referrals from whomever wants to join the study and offering no incentive to recruit. RDS generates diverse robust samples that resemble the target population for hard-to-reach populations (Johnson et al 2010) by incentivizing participants to recruit a maximum of two participants each. Only two waves of participants are allowed from each initial seed.…”