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. 2023 Feb 7;23(1):278.
doi: 10.1186/s12889-023-15220-x.

Assessment of an instrument scale measuring the knowledge of antiretroviral therapy among people living with HIV

Di Xu #  1   2 , Yuhua Shi #  3 , Ling Pan  1 , Qiongli Duan  4 , Nengmei Huang  4 , Pengcheng Liu  1 , Jing Han  1 , Zhongfu Liu  1 , Jian Li  5 , Hongjie Liu  6
Affiliations

Assessment of an instrument scale measuring the knowledge of antiretroviral therapy among people living with HIV

Di Xu et al. BMC Public Health. .

Abstract

Background: Antiretroviral therapy (ART) is currently the most effective way to treat people living with human immunodeficiency virus (PLHs) and reduce HIV transmission. While there are many factors that reduce adherence to ART, PLHs' knowledge about ART may determine the level of adherence. It is necessary to design and assess an instrument scale that measures the knowledge of antiretroviral therapy among PLHs.

Method: A cross-sectional study was conducted among PLHs in Honghe Hani and Yi Autonomous Prefecture, China. Both exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were used to examine the latent factors of antiretroviral therapy knowledge scale. Internal consistency was assessed separately for the scale and its dimensions by estimating Cronbach's alphas, split-half reliability and Spearman's correlation coefficient. ANOVAs were used to compare the scores of different dimensions with sociodemographic characteristics.

Results: Four factors were extracted according to factor loadings. They had high internal consistency reliability (Cronbach's alpha: 0.70-0.95) and good construct validity (standardized factor loading range: 0.46-0.86) in the scale. Goodness of fit indices indicated that a four-factor solution fit the data at an accepted level (χ2/degree ratio = 1.980, RMSEA = 0.069, GFI = 0.909, CFI = 0.957, NFI = 0.917, TLI = 0.944). ANOVAs indicated that the score was higher among PLHs who were Han, had spouses/partners, were non-famers or migrant workers, initiated ART, and had a high school or above education.

Conclusion: The psychometric assessment indicated that this ART knowledge scale had accepted internal consistency and discriminant construct validity. It can be used to assess the knowledge of antiretroviral therapy for PLHs.

Keywords: Instrument scale; Knowledge of antiretroviral therapy; Psychometric assessment.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare they have no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Scree test for Eigenvalues in the development sample
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Standard path and parameter estimation of confirmatory factor analysis. Factor 1, the cognition of ART medication; Factor 2, the cognition of Treatment benefits; Factor 3, the cognition of Drug adherence; Factor 4, the cognition of Adverse effects
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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