Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1999. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Development and testing of an HIV-risk screening instrument for use in health care settings.
Am J Prev Med. 1998 Aug;15(2):103-13. Unique Identifier : AIDSLINE MED/98379287 Gerbert B; Bronstone A; McPhee S; Pantilat S; Allerton M; Division of Behavioral Sciences, School of Dentistry, University; of California, San Francisco 94111, USA.
Abstract:
OBJECTIVE: To develop and test a brief, reliable, and valid HIV-risk screening instrument for use in primary health care settings. DESIGN: A two-phase study: (1) developing a self-administered HIV-risk screening instrument, and (2) testing it with a primary care population, including testing the effect of confidentiality on disclosure of HIV-risk behaviors. SETTING: Phase 1: 3 types of sites (a blood donor center, a methadone clinic, and 2 STD clinics) representing low and high HIV-seroprevalence rates. Phase 2: 4 primary care sites. PARTICIPANTS: Phase 1: 293 consecutively recruited participants. Phase 2: 459 randomly recruited primary care patients. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Phase 1: comparison of the responses of participants from low and high HIV-seroprevalence sites. Phase 2: primary care patients' rates of disclosure of HIV-risk behaviors and ratings of acceptability. RESULTS: Phase 1: through examining item-confirmation rates, item-total correlations, and comparison of responses from low and high HIV-seroprevalence sites, we developed a final 10-item HIV-risk Screening Instrument (HSI) with an internal consistency coefficient of .73. Phase 2: 76% of primary care patients disclosed at least 1 risky behavior and 52% disclosed 2 or more risky behaviors. Patients were willing to disclose HIV-risk behaviors even knowing that their physician would see this information. Ninety-five percent of our patient participants were comfortable with the questions on the HSI, 78% felt it was important that their doctor know their answers, and 52% wished to discuss their answers with their physician. CONCLUSION: Our brief, self-administered HSI is a reliable and valid measure. The HSI can be used in health care settings to identify individuals at risk for HIV and to initiate HIV testing, early care, and risk-reduction counseling, necessary goals for effective HIV prevention efforts.
Keywords: CLINICAL TRIAL JOURNAL ARTICLE RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIAL Adult Analysis of Variance Chi-Square Distribution Confidentiality/PSYCHOLOGY Female Human HIV Infections/*PREVENTION & CONTROL/TRANSMISSION Male Mass Screening/*METHODS/STANDARDS Middle Age Patient Acceptance of Health Care Primary Health Care/*METHODS Psychometrics/*STANDARDS Questionnaires/*STANDARDS Reproducibility of Results *Risk-Taking San Francisco Self Disclosure Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S. 990130
A9911007
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Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1999. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
