Network scale-up is an indirect size estimation method, in which participants are questioned on sensitive behaviors of their social network members. Therefore, the visibility of the behavior affects the replies and estimates. Many attempts to estimate visibility have been made. The aims of this study were to review the main methods used to address visibility and to provide a summary of reported visibility factors (VFs) across populations. We systematically searched relevant databases and Google. In total, 15 studies and reports that calculated VFs were found. VF calculation studies have been applied in 9 countries, mostly in East Asia and Eastern Europe. The methods applied were expert opinion, comparison of NSU with another method, the game of contacts, social respect, and the coming-out rate. The VF has been calculated for heavy drug users, people who inject drugs (PWID), female sex workers (FSWs) and their clients, male who have sex with male (MSM), alcohol and methamphetamine users, and those who have experienced extra-/pre-marital sex and abortion. The VF varied from 1.4% in Japan to 52.0% in China for MSM; from 34.0% in Ukraine to 111.0% in China for FSWs; and from 12.0% among Iranian students to 57.0% in Ukraine for PWID. Our review revealed that VF estimates were heterogeneous, and were not available for most settings, in particular the Middle East and North Africa region, except Iran. More concrete methodologies to estimate the VF are required.
Summary
Citations
Citations to this article as recorded by
Estimating the Social Visibility of Abortions in Uganda and Ethiopia Using the Game of Contacts Margaret Giorgio, Solomon Shiferaw, Fredrick Makumbi, Assefa Seme, Simon Peter Sebina Kibira, Sarah Nabukeera, Selena Anjur‐Dietrich, Mahari Yihdego, Niguse Tadele, Elizabeth Sully Studies in Family Planning.2024; 55(4): 291. CrossRef
An Empirical Comparison of a Traditional Strategy and Network Scale-Up Method for Prevalence Estimation of Child Trafficking in Sierra Leone Hui Yi, Kyle Vincent, David Okech, Jody Clay-Warner, Jiacheng Li, Tenshi Kawashima, Timothy G. Edgemon, Lydia Aletraris, Fred Hassan Konteh Crime & Delinquency.2023; : 001112872311701. CrossRef
Thirty Years of The Network Scale-up Method Ian Laga, Le Bao, Xiaoyue Niu Journal of the American Statistical Association.2021; 116(535): 1548. CrossRef
Using Social Networks to Estimate the Number of COVID-19 Cases: The Incident (Hidden COVID-19 Cases Network Estimation) Study Protocol Honoria Ocagli, Danila Azzolina, Giulia Lorenzoni, Silvia Gallipoli, Matteo Martinato, Aslihan Acar, Paola Berchialla, Dario Gregori International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health.2021; 18(11): 5713. CrossRef
Novel approaches to estimating abortion incidence Gilda Sedgh, Sarah C. Keogh Reproductive Health.2019;[Epub] CrossRef
OBJECTIVES Rates of attempted deliberate self-poisoning (DSP) are subject to undercounting, underreporting, and denial of the suicide attempt. In this study, we estimated the rate of underreported DSP, which is the most common method of attempted suicide in Iran.
METHODS
We estimated the rate and number of unaccounted individuals who attempted DSP in western Iran in 2015 using a truncated count model. In this method, the number of people who attempted DSP but were not referred to any health care centers, n<sub>0</sub> , was calculated through integrating hospital and forensic data. The crude and age-adjusted rates of attempted DSP were estimated directly using the average population size of the city of Kermanshah and the World Health Organization (WHO) world standard population with and without accounting for underreporting. The Monte Carlo method was used to determine the confidence level.
RESULTS
The recorded number of people who attempted DSP was estimated by different methods to be in the range of 46.6 to 53.2% of the actual number of individuals who attempted DSP. The rate of underreported cases was higher among women than men and decreased as age increased. The rate of underreported cases decreased as the potency and intensity of toxic factors increased. The highest underreporting rates of 69.9, 51.2, and 21.5% were observed when oil and detergents (International Classification of Diseases, 10th revision [ICD-10] code: X66), medications (ICD-10 code: X60-X64), and agricultural toxins (ICD-10 codes: X68, X69) were used for poisoning, respectively. Crude rates, with and without accounting for underreporting, were estimated by the mixture method as 167.5 per 100,000 persons and 331.7 per 100,000 persons, respectively, which decreased to 129.8 per 100,000 persons and 253.1 per 100,000 persons after adjusting for age on the basis of the WHO world standard population.
CONCLUSIONS
Nearly half of individuals who attempted DSP were not referred to a hospital for treatment or denied the suicide attempt for political or sociocultural reasons. Individuals with no access to counseling services are at a higher risk for repeated suicide attempts and fatal suicides.
Summary
Citations
Citations to this article as recorded by
A validated dilute-and-shoot LC–MS-MS urine screening for the analysis of 95 illicit drugs and medicines: Insights from clinical and forensic Brazilian cases Bruno Pereira Dos Santos, Letícia Birk, Patrícia Schwarz, Viviane Cristina Sebben, Ângela Malysz Sgaravatti, Giovanna Cristiano de Gouveia, Adriana Ubirajara Silva Petry, Francisco Paz de Menezes, Alexsandro Pinto Gonzaga, Paula Flores Schlickmann, Marcel Journal of Analytical Toxicology.2024; 48(5): 314. CrossRef
Emergency department nurses’ perceptions of caring for patients with intentional self-poisoning: a qualitative study Salar Sharifi, Sina Valiee Emergency Care Journal.2023;[Epub] CrossRef
Age Changes and Suicidal Activity in Iran Over the Past Decade: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Hamid Sharif Nia, Mohammad Heidari, Navaz Naghavi, Rebecca H. Lehto, Ali Akbar Haghdoost, Azar Jafari-Koulaee, Yasaman Hatef Matbue, Ameneh Yaghoobzadeh, Amir Hossein Goudarzian, Saeed Pahlevan Sharif OMEGA - Journal of Death and Dying.2022; 86(1): 312. CrossRef
Discovering the Unclassified Suicide Cases Among Undetermined Drug Overdose Deaths Using Machine Learning Techniques Daphne Liu, Mia Yu, Jeffrey Duncan, Anna Fondario, Hadi Kharrazi, Paul S. Nestadt Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior.2020; 50(2): 333. CrossRef
Psychiatric Assessment of Deliberate Self-Poisoning Mehdi Moradinazar, Mehdi Shaygani, Mary Ataei, Rosita Naseri Psychiatric Annals.2019; 49(8): 362. CrossRef