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Spatial Recruitment Bias in Respondent-Driven Sampling: Implications for HIV Prevalence Estimation in Urban Heterosexuals

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Abstract

Respondent-driven sampling (RDS) is a study design used to investigate populations for which a probabilistic sampling frame cannot be efficiently generated. Biases in parameter estimates may result from systematic non-random recruitment within social networks by geography. We investigate the spatial distribution of RDS recruits relative to an inferred social network among heterosexual adults in New York City in 2010. Mean distances between recruitment dyads are compared to those of network dyads to quantify bias. Spatial regression models are then used to assess the impact of spatial structure on risk and prevalence outcomes. In our primary distance metric, network dyads were an average of 1.34 (95 % CI 0.82–1.86) miles farther dispersed than recruitment dyads, suggesting spatial bias. However, there was no evidence that demographic associations with HIV risk or prevalence were spatially confounded. Therefore, while the spatial structure of recruitment may be biased in heterogeneous urban settings, the impact of this bias on estimates of outcome measures appears minimal.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by a cooperative agreement between the New York City Department of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (#U62/CCU223595-03-1). We would like to thank the NYC NHBS field staff for all their efforts on the study. We also greatly appreciate the insightful comments on an earlier version of this manuscript from three anonymous reviewers.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Epidemiology, University of Washington, 1959 Pacific Street NE, Box 357236, Seattle, WA, 98195, USA

    Samuel M. Jenness

  2. New York City Department of Health, HIV Epidemiology Program, New York, NY, USA

    Alan Neaigus

  3. Department of Anthropology, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, New York, NY, USA

    Travis Wendel

  4. Department of Sociology, The New School, New York, NY, USA

    Camila Gelpi-Acosta

  5. College of Nursing, New York University, New York, NY, USA

    Holly Hagan

Authors
  1. Samuel M. Jenness
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  2. Alan Neaigus
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  3. Travis Wendel
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  4. Camila Gelpi-Acosta
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  5. Holly Hagan
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Samuel M. Jenness.

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Jenness, S.M., Neaigus, A., Wendel, T. et al. Spatial Recruitment Bias in Respondent-Driven Sampling: Implications for HIV Prevalence Estimation in Urban Heterosexuals. AIDS Behav 18, 2366–2373 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10461-013-0640-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10461-013-0640-8

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