Local studies include studies in the general population (e.g., sentinel hospital patients, clients of voluntary testing and blood donors), as well as studies of special groups such as women, ethnic populations, Aboriginal people, blood and blood product recipients and hemophiliacs, MSM, IDUs, STD clientele, inmates, street people and sex-trade workers.
Cependant, les études locales tendent à souffrir d’un souci trop grand de généralisation, qui risque d’entraver le dessein de dresser un tableau cohérent de la situation à l’échelle nationale.