Validation of the HIV/AIDS-Targeted Quality of Life (HAT-QOL) for Evaluation of Health-related Quality of Life in People Living with HIV/AIDS in Brazil

• Published in: AIDS and behavior 2024-12, Vol.28 (12), p.4188-4198
• Main Authors: Valdelamar-Jiménez, Juliet Rocío, Narváez Betancur, Monica Bibiana, Brites, Carlos, Lins-Kusterer, Liliane
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Acquired immune deficiency syndrome; Adequacy; Adult; AIDS; Brazil; Correlation analysis; Dimensional analysis; Evaluation; Exploratory factor analysis; Factor analysis; Factor Analysis, Statistical; Female; Health; Health Psychology; Health Status; HIV; HIV Infections - drug therapy; HIV Infections - psychology; Human immunodeficiency virus; Humans; Indexes; Infectious Diseases; Life satisfaction; Male; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Middle Aged; Original Paper; Psychometrics; Public Health; Quality of Life; Reproducibility of Results; Robustness (mathematics); Sexually transmitted diseases; Socioeconomic Factors; STD; Surveys and Questionnaires; Validity
• ISSN: 1090-7165; 1573-3254; 1573-3254
• DOI: 10.1007/s10461-024-04496-8

HIV/AIDS-Targeted Quality of Life (HAT-QOL) is an instrument for evaluating health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in people living with HIV (PLWHIV). This has been adapted into Brazilian Portuguese, but its dimensional structure has not been analyzed. This study evaluated the psychometric properties of the Brazilian Portuguese version of the HAT-QOL, using a sample of 319 PLWHIV in Salvador, Brazil. The study performed Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) to assess the HAT-QOL dimensional structure. The analysis used a polychoric correlation matrix, Robust Diagonally Weighted Least Squares (RDWLS) as an extraction method, Parallel Analysis for factor retention, robust promin as oblique rotation, and Generalized H-index (G-H) for construct replicability of each factor. Model adequacy was assessed using the Root Mean Square Error of Approximation (RMSEA), Comparative Fit Index (CFI), and Tucker-Lewis Index (TLI). Concurrent validity was evaluated with the 36-item Short Form Health Survey, version 2 (SF-36v2). EFA identified a HAT-QOL six-factor solution: Financial Worries, Sexual Function, Medication Concerns, Life Satisfaction, Health Worries, and Overall Function. This solution showed high G-H indexes, concurrent validity, and satisfactory adequacy indexes (X 2  = 231.345, df = 291, p