Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #108699

Kimberly A. Shinault, MPH¹, Hélène Carabin, PhD², Marguerite Keesee, PhD³, and Nancy K. Sonleitner, PhD³. (1) Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, 801 NE 13th Street, CHB 317, P.O.Box 26901, Oklahoma City, OK 73190, 405-271-2229 x 48143, kimberly-shinault@ouhsc.edu, (2) Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, University of Oklahoma, College of Public Health, 801 NE 13th Street, Oklahoma City, OK 73116, (3) Center for Applied Social Research, University of Oklahoma, 3200 Marshall Avenue, Suite 201, Norman, OK 73072

Quality Of Life (QOL) instruments are recognized for their subjective valuation of health status and will ideally capture physical, mental and social well-being. The purpose of this research is to review the QOL instruments used in HIV/AIDS research to date. The main objective is to review the statistical value of the validation procedures chosen for each instrument. To review the literature regarding QOL in HIV/AIDS patients a search was conducted using OVID, Pubmed, and ERIC English language reference search engine websites. Construct validity was tested with comparison of means to clinical markers (65%), correlations to clinical markers (41%), external instruments (24%), and internal subscales (29%). Cronbach's alpha results were provided for 82% of the instruments and only 29% of instruments tested sensitivity to change. Inter-rater reliability was never tested although 35% of the instruments were interview-based. If a universal standard for QOL instruments were available and in use, individuals and populations could be easily compared which would facilitate decision-making. Seventeen instruments have been examined for QOL in HIV/AIDS. In each of the studies discussing QOL in HIV/AIDS several dimensions of accuracy are missing and thus none of the articles support a thorough evaluation of the accuracy (validity and precision) of the instruments. In addition, there is a lack of use of standard statistical tools to compare and estimate the accuracy of different instruments. The MOS-HIV is the most widely used disease specific instrument for this condition even though it also lacks evidence of criterion validity and inter-observer reliability.

Learning Objectives:

• 1. List the instruments commonly used in HIV/AIDS quality of life research
• 2. Compare the statistical tools used for validating quality of life instruments
• 3. Recognize the need for standardized statistical methods to assess the validity of quality of life instruments

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

I wish to disclose that I have NO financial interests or other relationship with the manufactures of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services or commercial supporters.

Recorded presentation