title: A new recruiting strategy to allow estimates of response rates in studies with people who inject drugs.
abstract: A new method of recruiting people who inject drugs was employed in Adelaide in 1994 to attempt to obtain a response rate and demographic information about those who declined to participate. Numbered invitation cards were distributed to injecting drug users (IDUs). Those choosing not to participate were asked to complete 4 questions on the card and return them. 22.7%. Of all cards distributed resulted in an enquiry about the study and only 1.4% of the cards were returned from those who chose not to participate. This recruiting strategy is as successful as other strategies with the added advantage of estimating response rates.
authors.affiliation: Drug and Alcohol Resource Unit, Royal Adelaide Hospital, Australia.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Dodding
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gaughwin
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003710:Demography; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D013287:Illicit Drugs; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010352:Patient Dropouts / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D018579:Patient Selection; D011619:Psychotropic Drugs; D012494:Sampling Studies; D013021:South Australia / Q000453:epidemiology; D016320:Substance Abuse Treatment Centers / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D015819:Substance Abuse, Intravenous / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000534:rehabilitation
chemical_list: D013287:Illicit Drugs; D011619:Psychotropic Drugs