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Validation of the AIDS Prevention Questionnaire: A Brief Self-Report Instrument to Assess Risk of HIV Infection and Guide Behavioral Change

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Abstract

This paper describes the process of building and validating the AIDS Prevention Questionnaire (CPS), a brief HIV risk assessment measure. An initial 64-items bank was filled out by 466 young people (192 men and 274 women), aged between 17 and 26 years (M = 20.62; SD = 2.15). The exploratory factor analysis revealed five components: Knowledge about HIV, Condom Attitudes, Intentions of Condom Use, Safe sexual behavior and Stigma and discrimination towards people living with HIV. This structure was confirmed by confirmatory factor analysis. The internal consistency for the different components ranged from .67 to .74. Moreover, CPS has a classification system that allows determining the level of risk. These results support the AIDS Prevention Questionnaire as a valid and reliable measure to detect earlier the risk for HIV infection and to design adjusted preventive interventions.

Resumen

Este artículo describe el proceso de construcción y validación del Cuestionario para la Prevención del Sida (CPS), un instrumento breve de evaluación del riesgo de infección por VIH. Un banco inicial de 64 ítems fue cumplimentado por 466 jóvenes (192 hombres y 274 mujeres), con edades comprendidas entre 17 y 26 años (M = 20.62; DT = 2.15). El análisis factorial exploratorio reveló cinco componentes: información y conocimientos sobre VIH, autoeficacia percibida en el uso del preservativo, intención de uso del preservativo, uso autoinformado del preservativo y solidaridad y empatía hacia las personas que viven con VIH. Esta estructura fue ratificada mediante análisis factorial confirmatorio. La consistencia interna para los distintos componentes osciló entre .67 y .74. Además, el CPS presenta un sistema de clasificación que permite determinar el nivel de riesgo. Estos resultados indican que el Cuestionario para la Prevención del Sida es un instrumento válido y fiable para la detección temprana del nivel de riesgo para la infección por VIH y para el diseño de intervenciones preventivas personalizadas.

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Correspondence to R. Ballester-Arnal.

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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

Funding

This work was supported by Universidad Jaume I-Fundación Bancaixa (P1 1B2006-19) and by the Spanish Foundation for AIDS Research and Prevention known as Fundación para la Investigación y la Prevención del Sida en España (exp. 36639/07).

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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Gil-Llario, M.D., Ruiz-Palomino, E., Morell-Mengual, V. et al. Validation of the AIDS Prevention Questionnaire: A Brief Self-Report Instrument to Assess Risk of HIV Infection and Guide Behavioral Change. AIDS Behav 23, 272–282 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10461-018-2224-0

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