Development and Testing of a Scale to Measure Symptom Distress Among Women Living With HIV/AIDS

This presentation is part of : Girls/Women and HIV/AIDS

Claire E. Lindberg, PhD, RN, School of Nursing, The College of New Jersey, Ewing, NJ, USA, Kathleen Casey, MD, Infectious Diseases, Jersey Shore Medical Center, Neptune, NJ, USA, and Susan Bataille, RN, The A-Team, Jersey Shore Medical Center, Neptune, NJ, USA.

Design: Methodological: Scale development and psychometric testing of the HIV Symptom Scale for Females (HIVSX-FEM).

Population, Sample: Population/Dates: Adult women with HIVAIDS. 1999-2003. Two community-residing groups of seropositive women from a state with a high HIV/AIDS rates participated: 8 women in focus groups and 123 women completed questionnaires. The mean age of the participants was 41 (range 24-66). Sixty percent were black, 27% were white and 7% were Latina.

Variables: Symptom distress: Measured using the HIVSX-FEM, a 28-item self-report scale. Health-related quality of life: Measured using the Medical Outcomes Scale–HIV (MOS-HIV). HIV-related mental distress: Measured with the HIV Impact Scale for Women (HIVIS-W). HIV status measured with standard disease indicators.

Methods: HIVSX-FEM items were developed after literature review. Content validity was established through review by 2 content experts and women with HIV/AIDS. The MOS-HIV, the HIVIS-W and disease status indicators were used in evaluation of construct and criterion-related validity. Findings: Mean score on the HIVSX-FEM was 48.3 (range 4-140). Content validity index was 1.00. Internal consistency reliability was .92. Significant pearson correlations in with the MOS-HIV Overall Health Scale (-0.47, p<.001), and Quality of Life Scale (-0.57, p<.001) provide evidence of criterion-related validity. Evidence of construct validity is shown by correlation with mental health distress (HIVIS-W) (0.58, p<.001), several MOS-HIV Scales (Physical Function -0.48; Role Function -0.48; Social Function -0.45; and Mental Health Distress -0.49; p<.001 for each) and with HIV viral load (0.26, p<.01). Women with AIDS had higher symptom distress than women with HIV (t=2.55, p<0.05).

Conclusions: Preliminary testing of the HIVSX-FEM demonstrates reliability, and content, criterion-related and construct validity.

Implications: The HIVSX-FEM shows promise for measuring symptom distress in women with HIV/AIDS, in practice and research.

Learning Objective #1: Discuss the development of a new instrument to measure symptom distress among women with HIV/AIDS
Learning Objective #2: Describe the psychometric properties of the HIV Symptom Distress Scale for Females