Comparing direct, network scale-up, and proxy respondent methods in estimating risky behaviors among collegians

Abstract

Background and aim: Various methods of estimating the size of hidden populations are prone to different degrees of information biases. This study aimed to assess such biases.

Methods: We estimated the prevalence of risky behaviors using direct, modified network scale-up (NSU) and proxy respondent method (PRM) among college students.

Results: The network sizes of the male and female students were 25.8 and 29.5. We found alcohol use was the most prevalent risky behaviors among males (PRM: 18.12%, NSU: 8.68%, direct: 13.4%) and the extra-marital sex was the most prevalent one among females (PRM: 3.47%, NSU: 0.95%, direct: 1.4%). Based on PRM, intravenous drug use (IDU) was the least prevalent behavior among college students.

Conclusion: We concluded that direct and NSU methods might underestimate the results.

• Risky behaviors
• network scale-up
• proxy respondent

Declaration of interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interests. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of this article.

Funding for this study was provided by Kerman University of medical sciences (KUMS). KUMS had no role in the study design, collection, analysis or interpretation of the data, writing the manuscript, or the decision to submit the paper for publication.

Notes

¹A cannabis product.

²Intravenous Drug Use.