Patient-reported outcome measures of stigma and discrimination for people living with HIV: a systematic review protocol

Abstract

The objective of this systematic review is to apply COnsensus-based standards for the selection of health Measurement INstruments (COSMIN) methodology to review psychometric properties of patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) of HIV-related stigma and/or discrimination.Introduction: Due to the development of antiretroviral therapy, the life expectancy of people living with HIV is similar to the life expectancy of the rest of the population. However, HIV-related stigma and discrimination are still major barriers to improving the quality of life of persons living with HIV. These barriers are a threat to these individuals and the world's public health care systems. Accurate and reproducible PROMs are prerequisites for robust and reliable results. Therefore, it is important to choose acceptable PROMs with satisfactory psychometric properties to assess HIV-related stigma and/or discrimination. However, there has been no systematic review of HIV-related stigma or discrimination PROMs in the field of HIV care.Inclusion criteria: All studies including adults (age ≥ 18 years) living with HIV will be eligible for inclusion in this review. The review will consider studies that report 1 or more psychometric properties of HIV-related stigma and/or discrimination PROMs. We will consider studies conducted in any country or setting published in English or Chinese.Methods: Nine databases will be searched from January 1, 1996, to the present, including PubMed, Embase, CINAHL, Web of Science, PsycINFO, ProQuest Dissertations and Theses, Cochrane Library, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, and Wanfang. Assessment of methodological quality, data extraction, data synthesis, and assessing certainty in the findings will be conducted using the COSMIN methodology.