Hendi Crosby Kowal, MPH, CHES¹, Jenny G. Namur, MPH, CHES², Wendy K.K. Lam, PhD³, and Susanna Nemes, PhD¹. (1) Danya International, Inc., 8737 Colesville Road, Suite 1200, Silver Spring, MD 20910, (2) Danya International, Inc, 8737 Colesville Road, Suite 1200, Silver Spring, MD 20910, 301-565-2412, JNamur@Danya.com, (3) Substance Abuse Treatment Evaluations and Interventions, Research Triangle Institute, PO Box 12194, 3040 Cornwallis Drive, Research Triangle Park, NC 27709-2194

Background Women now account for an estimated 30% of new HIV infections. Women drug users are at particularly high risk of infection. Danya International, Inc. developed a women-focused, patient-centered HIV-risk screening instrument with funding from the National Institute on Drug Abuse, NIH.

Methods Danya and our partner, Research Triangle Institute (RTI) conducted evaluation activities between December 2002 and August 2003. Concurrent validity was tested by comparing the scores of women completing the WISER with those of a similar measure administered at the same time point. Reliability was determined both by examining the internal consistency of the WISER scale and its scale scores, and by examining test-retest results across two time-points.

Results 254 women completed participation in the evaluation. Internal consistency for the WISER total score was 0.74. Test-retest reliability for the WISER total score was 0.75. The WISER as a whole, as well as subscales of the instrument, were each significantly correlated with our comparison screening instrument (p<0.01).

Conclusions The WISER is a reliable and valid instrument, particularly given its relatively low number of items. This instrument can be a valuable tool for identifying women who may be at risk for HIV.

Learning Objectives:

• Gain knowledge about how a brief screening instrument can gather valid and reliable data regarding HIV risk factors among women at high risk.
• Increase understanding of the importance of using targeted screening instrumentation in the HIV screening process.

Keywords: Screening Instruments, Women and HIV/AIDS

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.