Summary
This study aim identified their cognitive concerns, categorizing them into different areas like memory, attention, and emotions. They developed a questionnaire based on theed to create a questionnaire that reflects the cognitive concerns expressed by people living with HIV. The researchers interviewed 292 individuals with HIV andse concerns and evaluated its items for prevalence, importance, and clarity. Out of 125 initial items, 60 were selected for the final questionnaire. This new measure can help clinicians understand the cognitive difficulties experienced by people with HIV and plan appropriate interventions. It provides a way for individuals to communicate their cognitive concerns and can improve the assessment and treatment of cognitive issues in this population. Occupational therapy practitioners can use this questionnaire to identify specific areas of cognitive difficulty and tailor interventions accordingly.
Abstract
OBJECTIVE.
The overall aim of this study is to create an item pool reflecting the cognitive concerns expressed by people with HIV as a first step toward developing such a measure.
METHOD.
Semiqualitative interviews with 292 people with HIV were carried out. Their concerns were mapped to neurocognitive domains to identify concern content areas and were compared with existing cognitive questionnaires. A questionnaire was developed to estimate the prevalence and importance of the items.
RESULTS.
Sixty of 125 items were retained in the questionnaire based on ratings of their prevalence, importance, and clarity. Memory and behavioral and emotional concerns were the most common content areas (15 each); other domains were attention (7), executive function (6), language (5), and cognitive change (12).
CONCLUSION.
People living with HIV experience difficulties in all domains of cognition. By recognizing all domains, this new measure can help clinicians better understand areas of perceived cognitive difficulty and plan interventions accordingly.
