Validation of a self-reported HIV symptoms list: the ISS-HIV symptoms scale.

Chiara Tontini,Massimiliano Di Gregorio,Raffaella Bucciardini,Vincenzo Fragola,Daniela Francisci,Sara Pompili,Stefano Vella,Andrea Costantini,Katherina Pugliese,Stefano Lucattini,Elisabetta Schiaroli,Luca Fucili,Marco Mirra,Miriam Cognigni,Rita Murri

doi:10.1186/s12981-016-0102-2

Abstract

BackgroundTo describe the development and the psychometric properties of the Istituto Superiore di Sanità-HIV symptoms scale (lSS-HIV symptoms scale).MethodsThe ISS-HIV symptom scale was developed by an Italian working team including researchers, physicians and people living with HIV. The development process went through the following steps: (1) review of HIV/AIDS literature; (2) focus group; (3) pre-test analysis; (4) scale validation.ResultsThe 22 symptoms of HIV-ISS symptoms scale were clustered in five factors: pain/general discomfort (7 items); depression/anxiety (4 items); emotional reaction/psychological distress (5 items); gastrointestinal discomfort (4 items); sexual discomfort (2 items). The internal consistence reliability was for all factors within the minimum accepted standard of 0.70.ConclusionsThe results of this study provide a preliminary evidence of the reliability and validity of the ISS-HIV symptoms scale. In the new era where HIV infection has been transformed into a chronic diseases and patients are experiencing a complex range of symptoms, the ISS-HIV symptoms scale may represent an useful tool for a comprehensive symptom assessment with the advantage of being easy to fill out by patients and potentially attractive to physicians mainly because it is easy to understand and requires short time to interpret the results.

Highlights

To describe the development and the psychometric properties of the Istituto Superiore di Sanità-HIV symptoms scale
Construct validity The 22 symptoms of HIV-ISS symptoms scale were clustered in five factors that explained 64.96 % of variance (Table 2): pain/general discomfort (7 items);depression/ anxiety (4 items); emotional reaction/psychological distress (5 items); gastrointestinal discomfort (4 items);sexual discomfort (2 items); Table 1 Characteristics of the population used for the validation analysis
The results of this study provide a preliminary evidence of the reliability and validity of the 22-item ISS-HIV symptoms scale

Summary

Introduction

To describe the development and the psychometric properties of the Istituto Superiore di Sanità-HIV symptoms scale (lSS-HIV symptoms scale). The physician’s assessment was for a long time the only factor that affected health care decisions, in more recent years the necessity for a closer cooperation between physician and patient has been recognized. In this contest a key role is represented by the patient reported outcomes (PROs). An HIV specific symptom checklist might be the most suitable tool for routine clinical use [21]. In the present paper we describe the development and the psychometric properties of the Istituto Superiore di Sanità-HIV symptoms scale (lSS-HIV symptoms scale)

Methods

Discussion

Conclusion