Developing a method to assess the specificity of HIV disclosure plans

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Psychology
• Infectious Diseases

Background:

• Onward HIV disclosure is a challenge for individuals with HIV.
• Sharing HIV status offers individual and public health benefits, including reduced transmission.
• Assessing HIV disclosure planning is crucial for support and intervention.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate a coding scheme for assessing HIV disclosure plan specificity.
• To evaluate the ability of young adults with perinatally acquired HIV to create specific disclosure plans.
• To examine factors influencing disclosure planning specificity.

Main Methods:

• Developed a coding scheme for free-text responses on HIV disclosure plans.
• Assessed inter-rater reliability and validity of the coding scheme.
• Analyzed data from 117 young adults with perinatally acquired HIV in the UK and Uganda.

Main Results:

• Achieved high inter-rater reliability for the coding scheme.
• Disclosure plan specificity increased for participants in a disclosure intervention group.
• No association found between disclosure planning specificity and other disclosure variables.

Conclusions:

• The developed coding scheme offers a comprehensive method for assessing HIV disclosure planning.
• Disclosure interventions can enhance the specificity of HIV status-sharing plans.
• This tool can be valuable in research and clinical practice for supporting individuals with HIV.