title: Measurement of self-reported HIV risk behaviors in injection drug users: comparison of standard versus timeline follow-back administration procedures.
abstract: This study compares the frequencies of retrospective self-reported HIV high-risk drug use and sexual behaviors in 127 out-of-treatment injection drug users using the HIV Risk Questionnaire (HRQ) across two administration methods: (a) a brief standard quantity-frequency approach covering the past 30 days and (b) a lengthier timeline follow-back (TLFB) procedure for improving recall. The two procedures produced similar frequencies of risk behavior across most items (80%) and good intra- and interclass correlation coefficients. The TLFB, however, resulted in higher frequencies for two risk behavior questions-sharing of any drug injection equipment and having any type of unprotected sex. The TLFB is a well-established procedure for retrospective assessment of HIV risk behavior and a good choice when precision in measuring these behaviors is a primary focus of the work. In contrast, the brief HRQ-Standard interview procedure appears to be a reasonable choice for clinical, research, and health-related surveys where the primary focus is broader than HIV risk behavior.
authors.affiliation: Alcohol and Drug Abuse Treatment Program at McLean Hospital, Belmont, MA 02478, USA.
authors.forename: Marc L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Copersino
authors.forename: Christina S
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Meade
authors.forename: George E
authors.initials: GE
authors.lastname: Bigelow
authors.forename: Robert K
authors.initials: RK
authors.lastname: Brooner
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016485:Needle Sharing / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012309:Risk-Taking; D012650:Self Disclosure; D015819:Substance Abuse, Intravenous; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D047568:Unsafe Sex / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*