South Africa has a substantial HIV epidemic as well as a rising methamphetamine use
problem, particularly in Cape Town. Respondent driven sampling (RDS) may be a useful tool for
engaging vulnerable and hard-to-reach populations in HIV research, although its effectiveness has
not yet been examined among South African methamphetamine users. The aim of the current
study was to describe the effectiveness of RDS as a method for engaging methamphetamine users
in Cape Town into a HIV behavioral research study. RDS procedures were used to screen 374
potential participants from a peri-urban township in Cape Town. Measures of homophily,
equilibrium and RDS-1 estimators were computed for key demographic and social variables.
Beginning with 8 seeds, 345 methamphetamine users were enrolled over a 6 month
period, with a coupon return rate of 67%. The sample included 197 men and 148 women who
were ethnically diverse (73% Coloured, 27% Black African) and had a mean age of 28.8 years
(SD=7.2). Social networks were adequate (mean network size >5) and mainly comprised of close
social ties. Equilibrium on race was reached after 11 waves of recruitment, and after =3 waves for
all other variables of interest. There was little to moderate preference for either in- or out-group
recruiting in all subgroups.
Results suggest that RDS is an effective method for engaging methamphetamine users
into HIV prevention research in South Africa. RDS may be a useful strategy for seeking high risk
methamphetamine users for HIV testing and linkage to HIV care in this and other low resource
settings. We also discuss future directions for RDS studies.