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Validation of the human activity profile in HIV-positive individuals on HAART
Ronald K Hetzler1, Christopher D Stickley, Cecilia M Shikuma
1Department of Kinesiology and Rehabilitation Science, College of Education, University of Hawaii - Manoa, Honolulu, Hawaii 96822, USA. hetzler@hawaii.edu
Objectives:
This study tested the validity of the Human Activity Profile (HAP) in an HIV-positive population receiving highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART). The HAP is a 94-item questionnaire for estimating functional capacity based on estimated metabolic equivalents for activities of daily living.
Methods:
Twenty-six HIV-positive participants (24 male, 2 female; age 46.0 +/- 9.3 years) receiving HAART completed the HAP and an exercise protocol (Balke treadmill test). The HAP yields a maximal activity score (MAS) and adjusted activity score (AAS; MAS minus activities no longer performed). Twelve participants also completed another nonexercise questionnaire (NEx).
Results:
Mean maximal oxygen uptake values (VO(2max)) were normally distributed, similar to non-HIV-positive normative data (37.73 +/- 6.95 mL O2*kg-1*min-1) and poorly correlated with MAS and AAS (r = 0.27 and rho = 0.32, respectively), possibly due to a ceiling effect. Estimated VO(2max) from the NEx was not significantly different than measured VO2max and was highly correlated (r = 0.82).
Conclusions:
The HAP is not a valid indicator of functional capacity for HIV-positive patients on HAART. The lack of functional impairment suggests that, in the absence of other clinically relevant limitations, HIV-positive individuals on HAART may benefit from exercise prescriptions developed similarly for non-HIV-positive individuals, based on the NEx or submaximal testing protocols, without requiring adaptive strategies.
