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A combination sampling approach for epidemiologic research in humanitarian settings: a case analysis of a study of depressive disorder prevalence among refugees in Greece

BACKGROUND: Understanding the burden of common mental health disorders, such as depressive disorder, is the first step in strengthening prevention and treatment in humanitarian emergencies. However, simple random sampling methods may lead to a high risk of coercion in settings characterized by a lac...

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Autores principales: Poole, Danielle N., Raymond, Nathaniel A., Berens, Jos, Latonero, Mark, Ricard, Julie, Hedt-Gauthier, Bethany
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: BioMed Central 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7856792/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33530961
http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12889-021-10342-6
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author Poole, Danielle N.
Raymond, Nathaniel A.
Berens, Jos
Latonero, Mark
Ricard, Julie
Hedt-Gauthier, Bethany
author_facet Poole, Danielle N.
Raymond, Nathaniel A.
Berens, Jos
Latonero, Mark
Ricard, Julie
Hedt-Gauthier, Bethany
author_sort Poole, Danielle N.
collection PubMed
description BACKGROUND: Understanding the burden of common mental health disorders, such as depressive disorder, is the first step in strengthening prevention and treatment in humanitarian emergencies. However, simple random sampling methods may lead to a high risk of coercion in settings characterized by a lack of distinction between researchers and aid organizations, mistrust, privacy concerns, and the overarching power differential between researchers and populations affected by crises. This case analysis describes a sampling approach developed for a survey study of depressive disorder in a Syrian refugee camp in Greece (n = 135). DISCUSSION: Syrian refugees face an extraordinarily high burden of depressive disorder during the asylum process (43%), necessitating population screening, prevention, and treatment. In order to preserve the informed consent process in this refugee camp setting, the research team developed a two-phase sampling strategy using a map depicting the geographical layout of the housing units within the camp. In the first phase, camp management announced a research study was being undertaken and individuals were invited to volunteer to participate. The participants’ container (housing) numbers were recorded on the map, but were not linked to the survey data. Then, in the second phase, the camp map was used for complementary sampling to reach a sample sufficient for statistical analysis. As a result of the two phases of the sampling exercise, all eligible adults from half the containers in each block were recruited, producing a systematic, age- and sex-representative sample. CONCLUSIONS: Combining sampling procedures in humanitarian emergencies can reduce the risk of coerced consent and bias by allowing participants to approach researchers in the first phase, with a second phase of sampling conducted to recruit a systematic sample. This case analysis illuminates the feasibility of a two-phase sampling approach for drawing a quasi-random, representative sample in a refugee camp setting.
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spelling pubmed-78567922021-02-04 A combination sampling approach for epidemiologic research in humanitarian settings: a case analysis of a study of depressive disorder prevalence among refugees in Greece Poole, Danielle N. Raymond, Nathaniel A. Berens, Jos Latonero, Mark Ricard, Julie Hedt-Gauthier, Bethany BMC Public Health Research in Practice BACKGROUND: Understanding the burden of common mental health disorders, such as depressive disorder, is the first step in strengthening prevention and treatment in humanitarian emergencies. However, simple random sampling methods may lead to a high risk of coercion in settings characterized by a lack of distinction between researchers and aid organizations, mistrust, privacy concerns, and the overarching power differential between researchers and populations affected by crises. This case analysis describes a sampling approach developed for a survey study of depressive disorder in a Syrian refugee camp in Greece (n = 135). DISCUSSION: Syrian refugees face an extraordinarily high burden of depressive disorder during the asylum process (43%), necessitating population screening, prevention, and treatment. In order to preserve the informed consent process in this refugee camp setting, the research team developed a two-phase sampling strategy using a map depicting the geographical layout of the housing units within the camp. In the first phase, camp management announced a research study was being undertaken and individuals were invited to volunteer to participate. The participants’ container (housing) numbers were recorded on the map, but were not linked to the survey data. Then, in the second phase, the camp map was used for complementary sampling to reach a sample sufficient for statistical analysis. As a result of the two phases of the sampling exercise, all eligible adults from half the containers in each block were recruited, producing a systematic, age- and sex-representative sample. CONCLUSIONS: Combining sampling procedures in humanitarian emergencies can reduce the risk of coerced consent and bias by allowing participants to approach researchers in the first phase, with a second phase of sampling conducted to recruit a systematic sample. This case analysis illuminates the feasibility of a two-phase sampling approach for drawing a quasi-random, representative sample in a refugee camp setting. BioMed Central 2021-02-02 /pmc/articles/PMC7856792/ /pubmed/33530961 http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12889-021-10342-6 Text en © The Author(s) 2021 Open AccessThis article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated in a credit line to the data.
spellingShingle Research in Practice
Poole, Danielle N.
Raymond, Nathaniel A.
Berens, Jos
Latonero, Mark
Ricard, Julie
Hedt-Gauthier, Bethany
A combination sampling approach for epidemiologic research in humanitarian settings: a case analysis of a study of depressive disorder prevalence among refugees in Greece
title A combination sampling approach for epidemiologic research in humanitarian settings: a case analysis of a study of depressive disorder prevalence among refugees in Greece
title_full A combination sampling approach for epidemiologic research in humanitarian settings: a case analysis of a study of depressive disorder prevalence among refugees in Greece
title_fullStr A combination sampling approach for epidemiologic research in humanitarian settings: a case analysis of a study of depressive disorder prevalence among refugees in Greece
title_full_unstemmed A combination sampling approach for epidemiologic research in humanitarian settings: a case analysis of a study of depressive disorder prevalence among refugees in Greece
title_short A combination sampling approach for epidemiologic research in humanitarian settings: a case analysis of a study of depressive disorder prevalence among refugees in Greece
title_sort combination sampling approach for epidemiologic research in humanitarian settings: a case analysis of a study of depressive disorder prevalence among refugees in greece
topic Research in Practice
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7856792/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33530961
http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12889-021-10342-6
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