PERFORMANCE OF A NEW, HIV AIDS-TARGETED QUALITY-OF-LIFE (HAT-QOL) INSTRUMENT IN ASYMPTOMATIC SEROPOSITIVE INDIVIDUALS/

Objective: to evaluate the psychometric performance of a new human imm unodeficiency virus/acquired immune deficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS)-tar geted quality of life (QoL) instrument in asymptomatic HIV-seropositiv e individuals. Methods: 201 urban and rural, HIV-seropositive subjects were recruited to complete a 76-item pilot QoL measure developed usin g content provided in group process by seropositive individuals. Quest ionnaire responses from the full sample (n = 201) were used to identif y dimensions and to reduce the number of items to 42. The responses to the retained items were then analysed for the asymptomatic subsample (n = 106). Results: 9 multi-item dimensions were identified: overall f unction (OF), sexual function (SF), disclosure worries (DW), health wo rries (HW), financial worries (FW), HIV mastery (HM), life satisfactio n (LS), medication concerns (MC) and provider trust (PT). The response s by asymptomatic subjects (74% male, 64% non-White and 63% homosexual /bisexual) revealed no substantial floor or ceiling effects, except fo r the PT dimension (where 44% were found to have scored the highest sc ore). The internal consistency coefficients (Cronbach's alphas) were b etween 0.80 and 0.89 for six dimensions. The coefficients were lower f or the SF (0.52), HM (0.67) and MC (0.48) dimensions. Construct validi ty assessments, using self-reported HIV disease-severity and sociodemo graphic variables, revealed some significant relationships (p less tha n or equal to 0.05) for all dimensions except SF, MC and PT. Conclusio ns: the results suggested that five dimensions (OF, DW, HW, FW and LS) from the new instrument have good psychometric properties for asympto matic HIV-seropositive individuals. These dimensions may be useful in the study of asymptomatic, seropositive individuals' QoL. Four dimensi ons (SF, HM, MC and PS) require additional refinement for this subpopu lation.