The Scale of Self-Efficacy Expectations of Adherence to Antiretroviral Treatment: A Tool for Identifying Risk for Non-Adherence to Treatment for HIV.

BACKGROUND: Identification of risk for non-adherence to treatment is a challenge for personalized care for people living with HIV. Standardized questionnaires of patients' expectations of their capability to overcome obstacles for treatment adherence may be used as a pre-screening for risk identification. A scale of self-efficacy expectations of adherence to antiretroviral treatment (SEA-ART scale) was previously developed. This study assesses the scale validity in predicting non-adherence to ART in adults living with HIV. METHODS AND FINDINGS: A prospective cohort study applied a 21-item SEA-ART scale to 275 adults in ART treatment at an outpatient public service for HIV in Southern Brazil. ART medications taken were assessed at one-month follow-up; ART adherence was devised as an intake of 95% and more of the prescribed medication. A SEA-ART score was calculated by adding up the scores of all items. Multivariable logistic regression and the Area Under the Receiver-Operating-Characteristic Curve (AUROC) were applied to examine the ability of the SEA-ART score to predict non-adherence at follow-up. The SEA-ART score varied from 21 to 105; mean 93.9; median 103.0. Non-adherence was 30.3% (n = 81/267). The odds of non-adherence was 8% lower for each unit increase of the SEA-ART score; after adjustment for age, sex, formal education and time in treatment (OR = 0.92; 95%CI 0.90-0.95; LRT for linear trend, p = 0.002). The AUROC was 0.80 (95%CI 0.73-0.87; p<0.001). The SEA-ART optimal cut-off value was 101, providing a sensitivity of 76.5%, a specificity of 73.1%, a positive predictive value of 55.4% and a negative predictive value of 87.7%. There was no evidence of difference in sensitivity, and specificity among groups organized by age, gender, formal education and time in treatment. CONCLUSIONS: The SEA-ART scale appears to have a good capacity to discriminate between adherents and non-adherents at one-month follow-up. Further studies should confirm these results in other populations.

[Development and validation of a social vulnerability index applied to public policies of the Unified Health System (SUS)]. / Desenvolvimento e validação de um índice de vulnerabilidade social aplicado a políticas públicas do SUS.

The article outlines the development and initial validation of a Social Vulnerability Index (SVI) including five social determinants of risk to health and demonstrates its application in the financing of primary care by the Unified Health System (SUS) in the State of Rio Grande do Sul. Municipal indicators of vulnerability relating to poverty and population dispersion were obtained from the 2010 population census of the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics. Both exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis suggests that the five items can constitute a reliable and acceptable measurement scale. The SVI-5 was then generated based on the first main component, measuring municipal inequalities in social vulnerability relating to poverty and population in the territory in Z-scores. The external validity of SVI-5 was examined in relation to health outcomes using DATASUS 2007-2011 data, revealing that infant mortality and hospitalizations for conditions treatable by primary care are greater in more vulnerable municipalities The results suggest that the SVI-5 is a valid measure of inequalities in social vulnerability between municipalities, applicable to socially equitable policies in health.

Desenvolvimento e validação de um índice de vulnerabilidade social aplicado a políticas públicas do SUS / Development and validation of a social vulnerability index applied to public policies of the Unified Health System (SUS)

O artigo apresenta o desenvolvimento e a validação inicial de um Índice de Vulnerabilidade Social - IVS-5, incluindo cinco determinantes sociais de risco à saúde, e exemplifica sua aplicação no financiamento da atenção básica pelo Sistema Único de Saúde no Rio Grande do Sul. Indicadores municipais de vulnerabilidade relativa à pobreza e dispersão populacional foram obtidos do Censo do IBGE-2010. A análise fatorial exploratória e a análise fatorial confirmatória sugerem que os cinco itens podem constituir uma escala de medida cuja confiabilidade é aceitável. O IVS-5 foi então gerado a partir do primeiro componente principal, medindo, em escores Z, desigualdades municipais na vulnerabilidade social relativa à pobreza e dispersão populacional no território. A validade externa do IVS-5 foi examinada em relação a desfechos de saúde, usando dados do Datasus 2007-2011, mostrando que a mortalidade infantil e as hospitalizações por condições sensíveis à atenção básica são maiores em municípios mais vulneráveis. Os resultados sugerem que o IVS-5 é medida válida de desigualdades na vulnerabilidade social entre municípios, aplicável a políticas de equidade social e em saúde.

The article outlines the development and initial validation of a Social Vulnerability Index (SVI) including five social determinants of risk to health and demonstrates its application in the financing of primary care by the Unified Health System (SUS) in the State of Rio Grande do Sul. Municipal indicators of vulnerability relating to poverty and population dispersion were obtained from the 2010 population census of the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics. Both exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis suggests that the five items can constitute a reliable and acceptable measurement scale. The SVI-5 was then generated based on the first main component, measuring municipal inequalities in social vulnerability relating to poverty and population in the territory in Z-scores. The external validity of SVI-5 was examined in relation to health outcomes using DATASUS 2007-2011 data, revealing that infant mortality and hospitalizations for conditions treatable by primary care are greater in more vulnerable municipalities The results suggest that the SVI-5 is a valid measure of inequalities in social vulnerability between municipalities, applicable to socially equitable policies in health.