Evidence map›Paper›PMID 30440047›Full record

ArticlePloS one2018

A stochastic simulation model to study respondent-driven recruitment.

Mart L Stein, Vincent Buskens, Peter G M van der Heijden, Jim E van Steenbergen, Albert Wong, Martin C J Bootsma, Mirjam E E Kretzschmar

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in PloS one, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors.

Mart L SteinNational Coordination Centre for Communicable Disease Control, Centre for Infectious Disease Control, National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, Bilthoven, Utrecht, The Netherlands.ORCID 0000-0003-0502-7993
Vincent BuskensDepartment of Sociology, Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences, University Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
Peter G M van der HeijdenDepartment of Methodology and Statistics, Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences, University Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
Jim E van SteenbergenNational Coordination Centre for Communicable Disease Control, Centre for Infectious Disease Control, National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, Bilthoven, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
Albert WongDepartment of Statistics, Informatics and Mathematical Modelling, National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, Bilthoven, The Netherlands.
Martin C J BootsmaJulius Center for Health Sciences and Primary Care, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
Mirjam E E KretzschmarJulius Center for Health Sciences and Primary Care, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Respondent-driven detection is a chain recruitment method used to sample contact persons of infected persons in order to enhance case finding. It starts with initial individuals, so-called seeds, who are invited for participation. Afterwards, seeds receive a fixed number of coupons to invite individuals with whom they had contact during a specific time period. Recruitees are then asked to do the same, resulting in successive waves of contact persons who are connected in one recruitment tree. However, often the majority of participants fail to invite others, or invitees do not accept an invitation, and recruitment stops after several waves. A mathematical model can help to analyse how various factors influence peer recruitment and to understand under which circumstances sustainable recruitment is possible. We implemented a stochastic simulation model, where parameters were suggested by empirical data from an online survey, to determine the thresholds for obtaining large recruitment trees and the number of waves needed to reach a steady state in the sample composition for individual characteristics. We also examined the relationship between mean and variance of the number of invitations sent out by participants and the probability of obtaining a large recruitment tree. Our main finding is that a situation where participants send out any number of coupons between one and the maximum number is more effective in reaching large recruitment trees, compared to a situation where the majority of participants does not send out any invitations and a smaller group sends out the maximum number of invitations. The presented model is a helpful tool that can assist public health professionals in preparing research and contact tracing using online respondent-driven detection. In particular, it can provide information on the required minimum number of successfully sent invitations to reach large recruitment trees, a certain sample composition or certain number of waves.

Indexed as

AdolescentAdultAgedAged, 80 and overChildChild, PreschoolCommunicable DiseasesComputer SimulationFemaleHomosexuality, MaleHumansInternetMaleMiddle AgedPatient SelectionPeer GroupVaccines

Identifiers

PMID30440047
PMCPMC6237413

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.