Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #113511

Adam B. Becker, PhD, MPH¹, Stephanie Tortu, PhD¹, Mary P. Jefferson, BA¹, Bridgett Boldon Johnson, BS¹, Michael Miller, BA¹, and William T. Robinson, PhD². (1) Community Health Sciences, Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, 1440 Canal Street - SL29, Suite 2301, New Orleans, LA 70112, 504-988-4734, abecker@tulane.edu, (2) HIV/AIDS Program, Louisiana Office of Public Health, 234 Loyola Ave, 5th floor, New Orleans, LA 70112

New Orleans was one of three pilot sites for the injection drug use portion of the National HIV Behavioral Surveillance project funded by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. One of the methods piloted for recruitment of study participants was targeted sampling – a method that involves sampling from specific areas in the city based on expected yield of eligible participants (e.g., age 18+, resident status, current injection drug use). Expected yields are determined by a combination of secondary data analysis, key informant interviews, and neighborhood mapping. This paper describes a neighborhood mapping process used to identifying high-, medium-, and low-density injection drug use neighborhoods in the city. We will present a step-by-step process for mapping observable indicators (e.g., syringes, discarded “works,” copping behaviors). The paper concludes with strengths and weaknesses in the approach, including the challenges faced in reaching diverse sub-populations of injectors.

Learning Objectives:

• Discuss the need for neighborhood mapping to develop a sampling scheme for recruiting injection drug users into surveillance studies.
• List possible neighborhood-level indicators of injection drug use.
• Describe a systematic process for neighborhood mapping of injection drug use.

Keywords: Surveillance, Injection Drug Users

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

I wish to disclose that I have NO financial interests or other relationship with the manufactures of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services or commercial supporters.