Validity evidence for the Clinic Screening Tool for HIV (CST-HIV) addressing factors that undermine health-related quality of life in people living with HIV
4 affiliations
- 1Faculty of Psychology, Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia (UNED) , ,
- 2Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal) , ,
- 3Spanish Interdisciplinary AIDS Society (SEISIDA) , ,
- 4CIBERINFEC, Carlos III Health Institute , ,
Abstract
Background: This study evaluated the psychometric properties and clinical validity of the Clinic Screening Tool for HIV (CST-HIV) to determine whether the CST-HIV demonstrates a reliable multidimensional structure and clinically meaningful associations with established patient-reported outcome measures (PROM) and HIV clinical markers.
Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted within the Spanish CoRIS multicentre cohort, including 286 adults with HIV. Participants completed the CST-HIV and validated PROMs. Clinical indicators (CD4+ cell count and percentage, HIV-1 RNA viral load, and non-AIDS events) were collected at current and retrospective time points. Analyses included confirmatory factor analysis, internal consistency, convergent and discriminant validity, associations with clinical markers, and age-group comparisons.
Results: Confirmatory factor analysis showed good model fit, with satisfactory internal consistency across domains (ω = 0.86–0.89). CST-HIV shows convergent validity, including psychological distress with PHQ-4 (r = 0.79), anticipated stigma with HIV stigma (r = 0.65), sexuality with sexual satisfaction (r = −0.74), sleep and fatigue with insomnia severity (r = 0.79), and material deprivation with social exclusion (r = 0.67) (all p < 0.001). Anticipated stigma (ρ = −0.16, p = 0.014) and material deprivation (ρ = −0.18, p = 0.005) were associated with lower CD4+ counts, while material deprivation was associated with higher viral load (ρ = 0.13, p = 0.046). Sexual satisfaction was lower among participants aged ≥50 years (d = −0.47, p < 0.001).
Conclusion: The CST-HIV demonstrates strong psychometric performance, supporting its use as a valid, brief, multidimensional screening tool to inform person-centered HIV care and clinical intervention.
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BibTeX
@article{fusterruizdeapodaca2026validity,
title = {{Validity evidence for the Clinic Screening Tool for HIV (CST-HIV) addressing factors that undermine health-related quality of life in people living with HIV}},
author = {María José Fuster-RuizdeApodaca and Patricia Recio and Trenton M. White and Carlos Iniesta and Rebeca Izquierdo and Julián Alexander Portocarrero and Jeffrey V. Lazarus and Inmaculada Jarrín},
journal = {Frontiers in psychology},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.3389/fpsyg.2026.1940441},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/PMC/PMC13719464},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Validity evidence for the Clinic Screening Tool for HIV (CST-HIV) addressing factors that undermine health-related quality of life in people living with HIV
AU - María José Fuster-RuizdeApodaca
AU - Patricia Recio
AU - Trenton M. White
AU - Carlos Iniesta
AU - Rebeca Izquierdo
AU - Julián Alexander Portocarrero
AU - Jeffrey V. Lazarus
AU - Inmaculada Jarrín
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/16
JO - Frontiers in psychology
DO - 10.3389/fpsyg.2026.1940441
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/PMC/PMC13719464
AB - Background: This study evaluated the psychometric properties and clinical validity of the Clinic Screening Tool for HIV (CST-HIV) to determine whether the CST-HIV demonstrates a reliable multidimensional structure and clinically meaningful associations with established patient-reported outcome measures (PROM) and HIV clinical markers. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted within the Spanish CoRIS multicentre cohort, including 286 adults with HIV. Participants completed the CST-HIV and validated PROMs. Clinical indicators (CD4+ cell count and percentage, HIV-1 RNA viral load, and non-AIDS events) were collected at current and retrospective time points. Analyses included confirmatory factor analysis, internal consistency, convergent and discriminant validity, associations with clinical markers, and age-group comparisons. Results: Confirmatory factor analysis showed good model fit, with satisfactory internal consistency across domains (ω = 0.86–0.89). CST-HIV shows convergent validity, including psychological distress with PHQ-4 (r = 0.79), anticipated stigma with HIV stigma (r = 0.65), sexuality with sexual satisfaction (r = −0.74), sleep and fatigue with insomnia severity (r = 0.79), and material deprivation with social exclusion (r = 0.67) (all p < 0.001). Anticipated stigma (ρ = −0.16, p = 0.014) and material deprivation (ρ = −0.18, p = 0.005) were associated with lower CD4+ counts, while material deprivation was associated with higher viral load (ρ = 0.13, p = 0.046). Sexual satisfaction was lower among participants aged ≥50 years (d = −0.47, p < 0.001). Conclusion: The CST-HIV demonstrates strong psychometric performance, supporting its use as a valid, brief, multidimensional screening tool to inform person-centered HIV care and clinical intervention.
SN - 1664-1078
ER -