Marseille 2007
| Abstract #331 - Epidemiological value of qualitative methods used in socioanthropology. Example of the InVS-ANRS-Coquelicot study | ||||
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Session: 26.7: Posters B (Poster) on Tuesday in Chaired by Authors: Presenting Author: Mrs Jauffret Roustide Marie - Institut de Veille Sanitaire, France |
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| Additional Authors: | ||||
| Aim: In the ANRS-Coquelicot study, conducted by InVS in 2004-2006 and focusing on the frequency and determinants of practices at risk of HIV and HCV transmission among drug users (DU), classical epidemiological approaches were combined with socioanthropological research tools. We discuss the conditions in which methods derived from the social sciences can be used to study the epidemiology of major public health problems. | ||||
| Method / Issue: -Semi-directive interviews of 100 drug users -Ethnographic observations in various sites -Qualitative analysis with NVivo Software -Focus on young or female drug users | ||||
| Results / Comments: The socioanthropological approach provided the following complementary information: - By diversifying the investigatory techniques, it improved the reliability of declared discriminatory practices: the long-term presence of a sociologist and the use of qualitative techniques (long and comprehensive interviews) can help drug users talk about their at-risk behaviors. This approach also limits social desirability biases and provides a different angle on the risks taken by drug users. - It underlined the complexity of risk-taking behavior, and its temporal, spatial and relational contexts. It also placed these practices in their social context and threw light on the significance of at-risk behaviors for drug users themselves. - It helped to reconstruct the drug users biographical history, highlighting break-points associated with subsequent at-risk behavior. - It provided access to occult populations (young or female drug users) and made the epidemiological sample more representative. | ||||
| Discussion: The socioanthropological approach is particularly appropriate for studying socially stigmatized populations (drug users) and practices at risk of HIV and HCV transmission. Care must be taken with respect to the way in which this discipline interfaces with classical epidemiological methods : neither approach must be allowed to take precedence, and the specificities of each must be respected. | ||||
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