A NEW RECRUITING STRATEGY TO ALLOW ESTIMATES OF RESPONSE RATES IN STUDIES WITH PEOPLE WHO INJECT DRUGS

A new method of recruiting people who inject drugs was employed in Ade laide in 1994 to attempt to obtain a response rate and demographic inf ormation 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 abo ut the study and only 1.4% of the cards were returned from those who c hose not to participate. This recruiting strategy is as successful as other strategies with the added advantage of estimating response rates . (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd.