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Using a 2-Stage Strategy with Respondent-Driven Sampling to Recruit a Hard-to-Reach Population for a Placebo Microbicide Gel Clinical Trial in Nellore, Andhra Pradesh (India)

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Abstract

Traditional recruitment methods for microbicide efficacy trials are labor intensive and may fail to reach high-risk hard-to-reach populations. We report duration of recruitment and lessons learned from a two-stage process to recruit female sex workers (FSWs) into a placebo microbicide trial, and examined characteristics associated with successful recruitment of peers who screened for and enrolled in the trial. FSWs were first recruited via respondent-driven sampling (RDS) to complete a survey and subsequently invited to screen for enrollment into a placebo microbicide trial taking place at a local clinic. It took 6 months to enroll 267 participants into the trial. Successful recruiters of peers who enrolled were more likely to have enrolled themselves (AOR 2.0, CI 1.3–2.9) and less likely to visit Nellore city (AOR 0.5, CI 0.3–0.9). Recruitment of FSWs via a two-stage recruitment strategy with RDS can be a good option for future clinical trials.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Ulrike Rawiel, as well as all YRG CARE study staff, particularly: K.R. Hari, Rajeswari and outreach volunteers; Durga, Jayanthi, Issaiah Kumari, Sowjanya, Sarojini, Prema Joythi, Dr. C.S. Shalini, Vijaya Lakshmi, K. Aparna, and Sasi J., for their dedicated work on this project. This manuscript is made possible by the generous support of the American and Indian people through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Bureau for Global Health, Office of Population and Reproductive Health, under the terms of Award No. GPO-A-00-04-00019; the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), under the terms of Award No. R21 HD060270; and the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), under the terms of Award No. Indo-US/54/2007-ECD II. The opinions expressed herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the U.S. or Indian governments.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. HIV and AIDS Program, Population Council, 4301 Connecticut Avenue, NW, Suite 80, Washington, DC, 20008, USA

    Waimar Tun

  2. HIV and AIDS Program, Population Council, New York, USA

    Lauren L. Katzen, Sharon A. Abbott & Barbara A. Friedland

  3. Poverty, Gender, and Youth Program, Population Council, New York, USA

    Christine A. Kelly & Barbara S. Mensch

  4. YRG Centre for AIDS Research and Education (YRG CARE), Chennai, India

    Aylur K. Srikrishnan & Suniti Solomon

  5. HIV and AIDS Program, Population Council, New Delhi, India

    Avina Sarna

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  1. Waimar Tun
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  2. Lauren L. Katzen
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Correspondence to Waimar Tun.

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Tun, W., Katzen, L.L., Abbott, S.A. et al. Using a 2-Stage Strategy with Respondent-Driven Sampling to Recruit a Hard-to-Reach Population for a Placebo Microbicide Gel Clinical Trial in Nellore, Andhra Pradesh (India). AIDS Behav 19, 369–379 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10461-014-0938-1

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