Rahdert ER, Francis RW, Young PA, Stultz NA; International Conference on AIDS (15th : 2004 : Bangkok, Thailand).
Int Conf AIDS. 2004 Jul 11-16; 15: abstract no. TuPeC4751.
NOVA Research Company, Bethesda, Maryland, United States
Background: The aim of the research was to develop a reliable, valid, brief, adolescent-appropriate English-language self-report HIV/STD risk-of-exposure screen for use in survey research and in prevention, intervention, and treatment. The HIV/STD risk screen (scale) was configured like the widely utilized 10-problem-area/scale POSIT (Problem Oriented Screening Instrument for Teenagers) questionnaire. Methods: An initial set of 30 expert-generated HIV/STD risk items, the POSIT, and other validating measures were administered, using audio-CASI on laptop computer with headset, to 960 English-speaking male (55%) and female (45%) high- and low/medium-risk adolescents (aged 12 through 19 years) recruited from 8 data collection field sites located across the United States. A 20% subsample was used to examine one-week test-retest reliability. Several analytic techniques were employed to refine the HIV/STD risk screen, including analyses associated with Item Response Theory. Results: A shortened HIV/STD risk scale was derived from various analyses, with a cut-score differentiating adolescents at low/medium-risk from youth at high risk-of-exposure to HIV infection and other sexually transmitted diseases. Satisfactory levels of internal consistency and temporal reliability were also obtained. Conclusions: Based on this newly developed English-language HIV/STD risk scale, a Spanish-language version is under development that will be sensitive to different Spanish-speaking populations in the United States. Likewise, a preliminary Afrikaans-language version of the POSIT and HIV/STD risk scale is being developed for use in South Africa. Because the HIV/STD risk scale and POSIT can be translated and administered via paper/pencil, structured interview, and user-friendly computerized versions (PC/laptop; pocket PC/Palm; Web-based), future research will focus on standardizing the HIV/STD risk screen for use in a broad range of applications.
Publication Types:
Keywords:
- Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome
- Adolescent
- Adolescent Behavior
- Female
- HIV Infections
- HIV Seropositivity
- Human Development
- Humans
- Interviews as Topic
- Male
- Questionnaires
- Sexually Transmitted Diseases
- South Africa
- United States
- methods
- organization & administration
Other ID:
UI: 102282569
From Meeting Abstracts