The Perinatal Guidelines Evaluation Project HIV and Pregnancy Study: overview and cohort description.
OBJECTIVE
The HIV and Pregnancy Study of the Perinatal Guidelines Evaluation Project is a prospective, longitudinal, multisite study established to: (a) assess the implementation of Public Health Service guidelines regarding the prevention of perinatal HIV transmission and (b) evaluate the psychosocial consequences of HIV infection among pregnant women. A distinctive aspect of the study is the use of an HIV-negative comparison group. This article describes the methodology of the study and baseline characteristics of the study sample. Methods and Results. HIV-infected (n = 336) and uninfected (n = 298) pregnant women were enrolled from four geographic areas: Connecticut, North Carolina, Brooklyn, NY, and Miami, FL. The study included three structured face-to-face interviews from late pregnancy to six months postpartum for HIV-infected and uninfected women. Additional self-reports of medication adherence were collected for the HIV-infected participants, and the medical records of infected mothers and their infants were reviewed. Electronic monitoring of medication adherence was conducted for a subset of the infected women. The groups were successfully matched on self-reported characteristics, including HIV-risk behaviors. More than half of the uninfected women reported a high-risk sexual partner. Baseline comparisons indicated that both the HIV-infected and uninfected women had high levels of depressive symptoms, stress, and recent negative life events.


CONCLUSIONS
This study provides a unique description of the psychosocial and behavioral characteristics of a population of low-income women. The results of this study suggest that HIV infection is one of many stressors faced by the women in this study.
D000328:Adult; D035061:Control Groups; D003863:Depression / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000208:ethnology / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000523:psychology / Q000635:transmission; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008427:Maternal Health Services / Q000592:standards*; D010349:Patient Compliance; D011203:Poverty; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D011247:Pregnancy; D011251:Pregnancy Complications, Infectious / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000208:ethnology / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000523:psychology; D037841:Pregnant People / Q000523:psychology*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012309:Risk-Taking; D012725:Sexual Behavior; D012944:Social Support; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000453:epidemiology; D014481:United States