title: Do recruitment patterns of young men who have sex with men (YMSM) recruited through respondent-driven sampling (RDS) violate assumptions?
abstract: BACKGROUND
  To generate unbiased estimates for data collected using respondent-driven sampling (RDS), a number of assumptions need to be met: individuals recruit randomly from their social network and people can accurately report their eligible network size. However, research has shown that these assumptions are often violated.
  
  
  METHODS
  This study used baseline data from Crew 450, a longitudinal study of young men who have sex with men in Chicago who were recruited via a modified form of RDS and its network substudy, in which a subset of 175 participants reported details on the composition and characteristics of their social network at either 1 or 2 years postbaseline.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Nearly two-thirds of participants reported giving coupons to at least one alter (64%), and 56.3% believed their alter(s) used the coupons. Frequency of communication, closeness and type of relationship played a major role in determining coupon distribution. Participants whose alters used coupons were significantly less likely to describe the strength of their relationship as 'not at all close' (OR=0.08; 95% CI 0.02 to 0.36) compared with 'very close' and to communicate weekly (OR=0.20; 95% CI 0.08 to 0.49) or 1-6 times in the past 6 months (OR=0.18; 95% CI 0.06 to 0.59).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Contrary to RDS assumptions, we found that relationship characteristics played a significant role when individuals decided to whom they would give coupons.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Social Sciences, Northwestern University, Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois, USA.
authors.forename: Gregory
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Phillips
authors.affiliation: Division of Adolescent Medicine, Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital, Chicago, Illinois, USA Department of Pediatrics, Northwestern University, Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois, USA.
authors.forename: Lisa M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Kuhns
authors.affiliation: Division of Adolescent Medicine, Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital, Chicago, Illinois, USA Department of Pediatrics, Northwestern University, Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois, USA.
authors.forename: Rob
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Garofalo
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Social Sciences, Northwestern University, Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois, USA.
authors.forename: Brian
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Mustanski
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002641:Chicago; D018451:Homosexuality, Male; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D018579:Patient Selection; D012944:Social Support; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Epidemiological methods; HIV; Research Design in Epidemiology
references.citation: AIDS Behav. 2013 Jul;17(6):2173-9
references.pmid: 23128980
references.citation: Sociol Methodol. 2009 Aug 1;39(1):73-116
references.pmid: 20161130
references.citation: Int J Health Geogr. 2011 Oct 18;10:56
references.pmid: 22008416
references.citation: Sociol Methodol. 2010 Aug;40(1):285-327
references.pmid: 22969167
references.citation: AIDS Behav. 2008 Jul;12(4 Suppl):S131-41
references.pmid: 18535901
references.citation: Addict Behav. 2007 May;32(5):924-37
references.pmid: 16901654
references.citation: Connect (Tor). 2015;35(1):
references.pmid: 26236065
references.citation: Drug Alcohol Depend. 2005 May 9;78(2):147-57
references.pmid: 15845318
references.citation: Sex Transm Dis. 1999 Mar;26(3):166-76
references.pmid: 10100775
references.citation: AIDS Behav. 2005 Dec;9(4):387-402
references.pmid: 16235135
references.citation: Soc Networks. 2007 May;29(2):279-299
references.pmid: 17940583
references.citation: Arch Sex Behav. 2014 Jan;43(1):61-72
references.pmid: 24217953
references.citation: J Urban Health. 2009 Jul;86 Suppl 1:5-31
references.pmid: 19472058
references.citation: AIDS. 2005 May;19 Suppl 2:S67-72
references.pmid: 15930843
references.citation: J Urban Health. 2015 Feb;92(1):151-67
references.pmid: 25128301
references.citation: J Urban Health. 2006 Nov;83(6 Suppl):i83-97
references.pmid: 17072761