[A validation of the MOS-HIV quality of life measure in HIV-infected patients in Mexico].
OBJECTIVE
To validate the Medical Outcomes Study HIV Health Survey (MOS-HIV) quality of life instrument for its application in clinical research in Mexico.


METHODS
The data for this study were collected between April, 2002, and February, 2004. An expert committee combined two Spanish-language translations of the MOS-HIV questionnaire. The new questionnaire's feasibility was assessed in a group of 32 HIV-infected persons by measuring how long they took to complete the questionnaire and the numbers of items they left unanswered. The questionnaire was then applied to a group of 120 HIV-positive patients and to a control group of 102 HIV-negative individuals. The following questionnaire characteristics were evaluated: (1) internal reliability (Cronbach alpha coefficient), (2) discriminant validity (the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves derived from the scores of the two groups), and (3) convergent validity (the Spearman correlation coefficients for the scores of the HIV-positive patients on the 11 MOS-HIV dimensions and their scores on the analog visual scale of the European Quality of Life 5-Dimensional format (EQ-5D) questionnaire, a list of symptoms, the viral load, and the CD4 cell count).


RESULTS
The mean response time with the questionnaire was 10 minutes and 22 seconds, and the mean number of unanswered items was 0.62. With each of the 11 dimensions of the questionnaire, the Cronbach alpha coefficient was at least 0.75. The mean scores obtained by the two groups were different for 9 of the 11 dimensions, and the 95% confidence intervals of the areas under the ROC curves did not include the value of 0.5 for 8 of the dimensions. The absolute value of the Spearman correlation coefficient was less than 0.3 for the CD4 cell count and for the viral load, and it was greater than 0.3 for each dimension and the scores on the list of symptoms and on the analog visual scale of the EQ-5D questionnaire.


CONCLUSIONS
The MOS-HIV measure is valid for use in clinical research among HIV-infected persons in Mexico.
Peña de León
Edilberto
E
Centro de Investigación en Enfermedades Infecciosas (CIENI), Servicio de Infectología, Instituto Nacional de Enfermedades Respiratorias (INER), México D.F., México.
Aguilar Gaytán
Sandra Socorro
SS
Suárez Mendoza
Aldo Antonio
AA
Reyes Terán
Gustavo
G
D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008800:Mexico; D011788:Quality of Life; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires