Clinicoepidemiological scoring system for early diagnosis of pediatric HIV

This pilot study was aimed at testing the feasibility of using a standardized questionnaire as a screening tool for detection of pediatric HIV at first contact. A prospective study was carried out on a cohort of 400 new patients attending the pediatric outdoor patient department in Medical College, Kolkata. After examining, the attending physician noted his clinical impression, filled the standardized questionnaire and scored each patient. ELISA test was performed. The results of the diagnostic tests were correlated with the clinical impression and the score. Taking a score of 9 as the cut-off, the sensitivity and specificity of the scoring system was 95.7% and 98.6% respectively. We conclude that this clinicoepidemiological scoring system may be used to screen children for HIV in resource-limited settings.