142nd APHA Annual Meeting and Exposition

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Reporting sexual behaviors using ACASI: Can Women Living with HIV be honest and comfortable or is there social desirability bias?

142nd APHA Annual Meeting and Exposition (November 15 - November 19, 2014): http://www.apha.org/events-and-meetings/annual
Monday, November 17, 2014

Elizabeth Lockhart, MPH , Department of Community and Family Health, College of Public Health, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL
Shana Green, MPH , Department of Community and Family Health, College of Public Health, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL
Ayesha Johnson, MSc , University of South Florida, Tampa, FL
Gladys Munoz , University of South Florida, Tampa, FL
Stephanie L. Marhefka, PhD , Department of Community and Family Health, College of Public Health, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL
Background: Few studies have directly asked adult women living with HIV (WLH) how honest they are when answering research questions via audio computer assisted self-interview (ACASI) software.  Due to the sensitive nature of sexual behavior questions, use of ACASI assessments could reduce stigma and increase honesty for participants. This mixed methods study assesses the self-reported honesty of WLH who participated in an adapted CDC approved Effective Behavioral Intervention, Healthy Relationships, for delivery via video-phones.

Methods: 71 WLH participated (n=36 immediate intervention; n=35 wait-list control) from 4 Florida counties. A subset of 21 semi-structured interviews was completed among the intervention participants. Quantitative responses of those interviewed were analyzed from 6-months post intervention, using six questions to assess different aspects of honesty. Grounded theory was used to examine the qualitative data.  Key themes regarding the facilitators and barriers to completing research assessments via ACASI were examined, as well as the specific reasons for self-reported honesty data.

Results: Overall participants reported being honest in answering questions via ACASI (95% report being mostly or completely honest) and comfortable participating in ACASI assessments (90% report feeling good or very good). The factors that participants cited for using ACASI include comfort in answering questions, privacy and security and ease of use.

Conclusions: Findings indicate that ACASI can be used to obtain honest answers from WLH with regards to sexual behavior. ACASI is a promising assessment tool to use for sexual health research. Future research can utilize ACASI as a method to increase participant honesty.

Learning Areas:

Conduct evaluation related to programs, research, and other areas of practice
Public health or related research

Learning Objectives:
Describe the impact audio computer assisted self-interview on research participant’s honesty and comfort. Identify how using technology for research assessments is acceptable by participants.

Keyword(s): Women and HIV/AIDS

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I have a Master's Degree in Public Health and am a current PhD student whose primary interest of study is HIV prevention. I have been working on the current federally funded project for 2 years.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

Back to: 3364.0: Methods in HIV-Related Research