Heart disease is the leading cause of death in American Indians (AIs). A newly published study examined cardiovascular risk factors in Northern Plains American Indians undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting surgery. AI patients presented with increased risk factors, including higher rates of diabetes mellitus (AI 63.5% vs. non-AI 38.7%) and smoking/tobacco use (AI 60.8% vs. non-AI 20.0%). The researchers concluded that AIs presented with significantly more risk factors for cardiovascular disease compared with the general population, with especially high rates of insulin-dependent diabetes and active tobacco use.

Source: Anderson et al. (2018). Disparities in Cardiovascular Risk Factors in Northern Plains American Indians Undergoing Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting. Health Equity, Aug 1;2(1):152-160.

Tobacco public education campaigns focus increasingly on hard-to-reach populations at higher risk for smoking, prompting campaign creators and evaluators to develop strategies to reach hard-to-reach populations in virtual and physical spaces where they spend time. A newly published study described two novel recruitment strategies (in-person intercept interviews in lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender [LGBT] social venues and targeted social media ads) and compares characteristics of participants recruited via these strategies. Researchers recruited LGBT adults aged 18-24 years in the United States via Facebook and Instagram ads or intercept in LGBT social venues for the survey.

Findings included:

• Lesbian or gay women, bisexual men and women, gender minorities, and other sexual minorities were more likely than gay men to be recruited via social media (than intercept).
• Hispanic and other or multiracial, non-Hispanic participants were less likely than white, non-Hispanic participants to be recruited via social media.
• As age increased, odds of recruitment via social media decreased.
• Participants with some college education were more likely than those with a college degree to be recruited via social media.
• Participants who reported past-year pride event attendance were more likely to be recruited via social media.
• Participants who reported using Instagram at least once daily were less likely to be recruited via social media.
• Social media recruitment was faster and less expensive (2.2% of combined social media and intercept recruitment cost) but had greater data quality issues-a larger percentage of social media respondents were lost because of duplicate and low-quality responses compared with intercept respondents lost to interviewer misrepresentation.
  

The researchers concluded that social media combined with intercept provided access to important LGBT subpopulations (e.g., gender and other sexual minorities) and a more diverse sample. Recruiting hard-to-reach populations via audience-tailored strategies enabled recruitment of one of the largest LGBT young adult samples, suggesting these methods’ promise for accessing hard-to-reach populations.

Source: Guillory et al. (2018). Recruiting Hard-to-Reach Populations for Survey Research: Using Facebook and Instagram Advertisements and In-Person Intercept in LGBT Bars and Nightclubs to Recruit LGBT Young Adults. Journal of Medical Internet Research, Jun 18;20(6):e197. doi: 10.2196/jmir.9461.