1. Reliability and construct validity of three health-related self-report scales in HIV-positive adults in rural Rwanda.
- Author
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Epino HM, Rich ML, Kaigamba F, Hakizamungu M, Socci AR, Bagiruwigize E, and Franke MF
- Subjects
- Anti-Retroviral Agents therapeutic use, Female, HIV Infections drug therapy, Health Surveys, Humans, Interviews as Topic, Male, Predictive Value of Tests, Principal Component Analysis, Psychiatric Status Rating Scales, Psychometrics methods, Psychometrics statistics & numerical data, Reproducibility of Results, Rural Population, Rwanda, Self Report, Severity of Illness Index, Sex Factors, Socioeconomic Factors, Depression diagnosis, HIV Infections psychology, Health Status Indicators, Quality of Life, Social Support, Surveys and Questionnaires standards
- Abstract
Depression, low health-related quality of life, and low perceived social support have been shown to predict poor health outcomes, including HIV-related outcomes. Mental health morbidity and HIV are important public health concerns in Rwanda, where approximately half of the current population is estimated to have survived the genocide and 3% is living with HIV. We examined the reliability and construct validity of the Hopkins Symptom Checklist-15 (HSCL-15), the Medical Outcomes Study HIV Health Survey (MOS-HIV), and the Duke/UNC Functional Social Support Questionnaire (DUFSSQ), which were used to assess depression, health-related quality of life, and perceived social support, respectively, among HIV-infected adults in rural Rwanda. We also studied whether scale reliability differed by gender, literacy status, or antiretroviral therapy (ART) delivery strategy. The Kinyarwanda versions of the HSCL-15, MOS-HIV, and DUFSSQ performed well in the study population. Reliability was favorable (Cronbach's alpha coefficients ≥0.75 or above) for the scales overall and across subgroups of gender, literacy, and mode of ART delivery. The scales also demonstrated good convergent, discriminant, and known-group validity.
- Published
- 2012
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