Disability in the context of HIV/AIDS: Building the Foundation for an Instrument to Describe "Disability" Experienced by Adults Living with HIV

The purpose of this study is to determine what “disability” means to PHAs to guide the future development of an instrument (questionnaire) that describes “disability” in the context of HIV. Specific objectives are: 1) to determine how PHAs conceptualize “disability” and what domains of “disability” they experience; and 2) to evaluate how well existing HIV health status instruments capture “disability” experienced by this population. Results will form a conceptual framework consisting of a definition and profile of consequences of living with HIV. The approach to objective #2 will include a content analysis in which categories and properties associated with results from objective #1 will be compared to domains and items of existing instruments used in HIV research to determine how well they capture the experiences of PHAs. Additionally, existing questionnaires will be reviewed with PHAs in two focus groups to determine how well they resonate with their lived experiences.