Development of the Perceived Risk of HIV Scale

Abstract

Past studies have used various methods to assess perceived risk of HIV infection; however, few have included multiple items covering different dimensions of risk perception or have examined the characteristics of individual items. This study describes the use of Item Response Theory (IRT) to develop a short measure of perceived risk of HIV infection scale (PRHS). An item pool was administered by trained interviewers to 771 participants. Participants also completed the risk behavior assessment (RBA) which includes items measuring risky sexual behaviors, and 652 participants completed HIV testing. The final measure consisted of 8 items, including items assessing likelihood estimates, intuitive judgments and salience of risk. Higher scores on the PRHS were positively associated with a greater number of sex partners, episodes of unprotected sex and having sex while high. Participants who tested positive for HIV reported higher perceived risk. The PRHS demonstrated good reliability and concurrent criterion-related validity. Compared to single item measures of risk perception, the PRHS is more robust by examining multiple dimensions of perceived risk. Possible uses of the measure and directions for future research are discussed.

Patient–Provider Communication Barriers and Facilitators to HIV and STI Preventive Services for Adolescent MSM

“…Sexuality questions focused on: (1) sexual identity, sexual history (number of lifetime sexual partners, gender of sexual partners); (2) sexual risk behaviors (sex without condoms and alcohol/drug use before sex) (3) 2 5-point Likert type questions on perceptions of HIV risk (“How likely do you think you are to become infected with HIV?” and “How much do you worry about getting infected with HIV?” 27 and (4) HIV/STI prevention and testing services received from a doctor in the past year. Items also examined the extent to which youth were out to family members, their physician, and others and 5-point Likert type questions on family acceptance (“very accepting” – “very rejecting”) of their sexual orientation and sexual activity with male partners 28 .…”

High Interest in Preexposure Prophylaxis Among Men Who Have Sex With Men at Risk for HIV Infection

“…We measured HIV risk perception using a cognitive assessment of risk (“How likely do you think you are to get HIV in the next year?” (scale 0-100%)) 34 ; 5% was used as a cut-off based on a post-hoc analysis of a risk perception threshold for predicting uptake. Participants were asked whether and where they had heard about PrEP.…”

Efficacy of Mobile Serious Games in Increasing HIV Risk Perception in Swaziland: A Randomized Control Trial (SGprev Trial) Research Protocol

“…For example, questions relating to sociodemographic characteristics were adopted from the 2007 Swaziland Demographic Health Survey, and those related to risky sexual behavior and intention to change behavior were developed from our formative studies. Additionally, the Perceived Risk of HIV Infection Scale (PRHS; found to have excellent internal consistency Cronbach alpha=0.88) [11] will be used to assess the primary outcome of this study. Past research has used a variety of approaches to measure HIV risk perception including single likelihood assessments [21,25].…”

“…On another note, the eNSF 2014-2018 points out that the Swaziland Social and Behavior Change strategy developed in 2010 has had limited success in facilitating desired levels of behavior change most importantly influencing personal HIV risk perception that focus on translating HIV awareness into protective action [8]. Beliefs about personal risk of HIV infection are central to motivate people to engage in behaviors that reduce their risk of HIV infection [11]. The Swaziland HIV testing and counseling guidelines includes HIV risk assessments to enhance self-perception of risk [12].…”