Abstract
Purpose—Network analysis has become increasingly popular in epidemiologic research, but the accuracy of data key to constructing risk networks is largely unknown. Using network data from people who use drugs (PWUD), the study examined how accurately PWUD reported their network members’ (i.e., alters’) names and ages.
Methods—Data were collected from 2008 to 2010 from 503 PWUD residing in rural Appalachia. Network ties (n=897) involved recent (past 6 months) sex, drug co-usage, and/or social support. Participants provided alters’ names, ages, and relationship-level characteristics; these data were cross-referenced to that of other participants to identify participant-participant relationships and to determine the accuracy of reported ages (years) and names (binary).
Results—Participants gave alters’ exact names and ages within two years in 75% and 79% of relationships, respectively. Accurate name was more common in relationships that were reciprocally reported and those involving social support and male alters. Age was more accurate in reciprocal ties and those characterized by kinship, sexual partnership, recruitment referral, and financial support, and less accurate for ties with older alters.
Conclusions—Most participants reported alters’ characteristics accurately, and name accuracy was not significantly different in relationships involving drug-related/sexual behavior compared to those not involving these behaviors.
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
11-2016
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.annepidem.2016.09.010
Funding Information
This work was supported by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (Grant R01 DA024598) and the pilot research grant program of the College of Public Health at the University of Kentucky. Dr. Abby Rudolph’s effort was supported by National Institute on Drug Abuse (Grant K01 DA033879). Ms. Su was supported by the University of Kentucky Professional Student Mentored Research Fellowship funded by the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences/National Institutes of Health, through grant UL1TR000117.
Repository Citation
Young, April M.; Rudolph, Abby E.; Su, Amanda E.; King, Lee; Jent, Susan; and Havens, Jennifer R., "Accuracy of Name and Age Data Provided About Network Members in a Social Network Study of People Who Use Drugs: Implications for Constructing Sociometric Networks" (2016). Epidemiology and Environmental Health Faculty Publications. 50.
https://uknowledge.uky.edu/epidemiology_facpub/50
Notes/Citation Information
Published in Annals of Epidemiology, v. 26, issue 11, p. 802-809.
© 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
This manuscript version is made available under the CC‐BY‐NC‐ND 4.0 license https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/.
The document available for download is the author's post-peer-review final draft of the article.