Sampling Designs for HIV Patient Populations

• Activity Number: 315
• Type: Contributed
• Date/Time: Tuesday, August 6, 2013 : 8:30 AM to 10:20 AM
• Sponsor: Survey Research Methods Section
• Author(s): Christopher Johnson*+ and Ronaldo Iachan and Richard Lee Harding and Linda Beer and Emma Frazier and Christine Mattson and Jacek Skarbinski
• Companies: CDC/NCHHSTP and ICF International and ICF International and CDC and CDC and CDC and CDC
• Keywords: population-based surveys ; health surveys ; multistage sampling ; PPS sampling ; HIV

Abstract

General population health surveys are inadequate for monitoring characteristics of HIV-infected persons because the low prevalence of the disease (< 0.5%) leads to small sample sizes. The U.S. National HIV Surveillance System (NHSS) includes all persons with a diagnosis of HIV, but provides limited data on their demographics and the medical care they receive. The Medical Monitoring Project (MMP), a nationally and locally representative probability sample of HIV-infected adults in care, was designed and implemented to monitor clinical and behavioral outcomes. To produce valid, nationally representative estimates of the characteristics of the population in care as well as its size, we implemented a cross-sectional, three-stage sampling design that sampled jurisdictions, then facilities, and then patients receiving medical care using PPS methods. MMP data collection includes basic information from NHSS for all sampled patients, interview data on behaviors and experiences, and abstracted medical record data for subjects who consent or where state law allows. MMP methods could be adapted to monitor populations of interest or evaluate outcomes and care for other rare conditions.