Summary of proposed additional information to be reported for RDS studies (STROBE-RDS study reporting checklist)
| Proposed additional information to be reported for RDS studies | |
|---|---|
| Title and abstract | Indicate the study's design (Respondent-Driven Sampling) in the title or abstract |
| Methods | |
| Study design | State why RDS is considered the most appropriate sampling method |
| Setting | Describe formative research methods and findings used to inform RDS study design |
| Participants | Give the eligibility criteria, number, sources and methods of seed selection |
| State if additional seeds were required, and if so, when and how recruited and started | |
| State if there was any variation in study design during data collection (eg, changing numbers of coupons per recruit, or stopping chains) | |
| Give the eligibility criteria for subsequent recruits if it differs from seeds | |
| Give number, types (eg, mobile/static) and location of recruitment venue(s) | |
| Report wording of network size question(s) | |
| Variables | State if and how recruiter-recruit relationship was tracked |
| Data sources/measurement | Describe methods to assess eligibility and reduce repeat enrolment (eg, coupon manager software, biometrics, detection of commercial exchange of coupons) |
| Quality checks (eg, were returned coupons actually distributed and redeemed only once?) | |
| Statistical methods | Describe all statistical methods, including name and description of the analytical methods (ie, point and interval estimators) used to take account of RDS sampling strategy. Report software package/version number and settings values |
| Report any criteria used to support statements on whether estimator conditions or assumptions were met, for example, ‘RDS equilibrium reached’ | |
| State if seeds included in each analysis | |
| Results | |
| Participants | Report numbers of individuals at each stage of study, that is, final number of seeds, number examined for eligibility, number confirmed eligible, number included in study, number returned for incentive collection and (if applicable) re-interview, and number analysed |
| Give reasons for non-participation at each stage, including reason for coupon rejection | |
| Report number of coupons distributed and returned | |
| Report number of recruits by seed and number of RDS recruitment waves | |
| Main results | Report unadjusted estimates and their stated precision (eg, 95% CI) |
| If applicable, report adjusted estimates and their stated precision (eg, 95% CI) | |
| If adjusted estimates presented, report enough information so that the reason for the magnitude of the adjustment is clear (eg, network sizes and homophily by group) | |
| Other analyses | Report other sensitivity analyses for example, different RDS estimators, different network size definitions |
| Discussion | |
| Limitations | Consider limitations of RDS sampling method and, if used, the RDS method(s) of inference. Include comment on how representative the unadjusted sample is thought to be |
Note: this is a summary of the full checklist. See web appendix table W1 or the Equator Network website8 for full details. Guidelines development proceeding according to Moher et al 2010.w12 Checklist adapted from STROBE guidelinesw9 checklist for cross-sectional studies.w10
RDS, Respondent Driven Sampling.