View All Abstracts for Session 44
239 Recruitment of High-Risk Women for HIV Vaccine Efficacy Trials
P. Graham*1, R. Novak1, D. McKirnan1, E. McLellan2, and M. Ackers2
1Univ. of Illinois at Chicago, USA and 2CDC, Atlanta, GA, USA
Background: In 2000, heterosexual transmission accounted for 40% of AIDS cases reported among American women. Future HIV vaccine efficacy trials will likely enroll large numbers of women at heterosexual risk (WAHR). Street outreach and referral or "snowball" sampling are useful recruitment strategies, however it is unknown which is more successful for WAHR. We compared the characteristics of WAHR recruited by these 2 strategies for a hypothetical vaccine trial.
Methods: Women were recruited for a hypothetical HIV vaccine trial. A street outreach worker approached potential WAHR, provided study information, and referred them for study screening. At screening, demographic and risk-behavior information were collected and HIV testing was performed. WAHR recruited by outreach were asked to snowball other potential WAHR. Enrollment criteria included: crack cocaine use, exchange of sex for money/drugs, multiple sex partners, and current HIV-infected partner. Pregnant and HIV-infected women were excluded. The chi2 test was used to identify differences between outreach and snowball recruits for discrete variables. A t test was used to determine mean differences for continuous variables.
Results: Between January 23 and May 31, 2001, a total of 152 women were screened, 100 via outreach and 52 through snowballing. HIV seroprevalence was 10% and 4% among outreach and snowball recruits, respectively. One hundred twenty-two eligible WAHR were enrolled, 76% of outreach recruits and 90% of snowball recruits (p = 0.03). Demographics were similar for both groups (mean age = 36 years; mean number of risk factors reported = 3). However, more outreach enrollees reported crack use
(99 vs. 81%, p < 0.001), and snowball enrollees reported a greater number of male sex partners in the past 6 months (160 vs. 60, p = 0.004).
Conclusions: Both recruitment strategies allowed successful identification of WAHR who met the study criteria and were willing to participate in a hypothetical vaccine trial. Groups differed in reported risk behaviors. Prospective evaluation will explore differences in HIV incidence and risk behavior to improve our ability to identify, enroll, and retain women for future HIV vaccine trials.
Contact Author about this Abstract
