Abstract #387  -  Summary of health and psychosocial assessment baseline results: A brief description of the implementation of the baseline
Authors:   Presenting Author:   Mr. Tinashe Muromo - University of Zimbabwe
Additional Authors:  Mr. Stephen Machokoto, Ms. Rachel Gatsi, Dr. Sally Nyandiya-Bundy, Ms. Norest Beta, Dr. Mufuta Tshimanga, Dr. April Greek, Dr. Daniel Montano, Dr. Danuta Kasprzyk,
Aim: The adapted Project TALC (Parent Intervention Programme [PIP]) was designed to be implemented and tested among a cohort of 400 Zimbabwean families.
Method / Issue: After a census to identify families with 12-18 year olds, and adults with HIV via a Health Screening, HIV+ individuals and their children were accrued into a cohort study. 386 families were accrued into a Baseline.
Results / Comments: 410 parents and 449 children were assessed with: 1) a Health and Symptom Assessment (HSA), and 2) a Psychosocial Assessment (PSA). Instruments measured demographics, health status, symptoms, use of conventional and traditional medicines, substance use, sexual history, current sexual practices, self-efficacy, self worth, measures of family functioning, family interactions, family discipline styles, family shared conversations, measures of stress, depression, anxiety, worry, feelings, affect, coping with HIV status, quality of life, social and institutional support, disclosure of HIV status, results of disclosure of status and HIV knowledge. The parents sample was mostly female (79%), mean age of 41 years and a mean of 3.7 children. Education level was high, 98% adults had attended school. General Health was rated: excellent (28%), very good (7%), good (20%), fair (33%) and poor (12%). Sexual practices and sexual history varied substantially over the sample and by gender. 21% of the men and 48% of women had no sexual partner in the past year, 64% men and 46% women had one partner, 7% men and 6% women had 2 partners, 8% men and 0% women had 3+ partners. 64% of men and 46% of women reported using a condom at last sex. 87% had revealed HIV results. Close family relations were most often told: sister (35%), daughter (30%), spouse (30%), mother (21%), son (23%), brother (19%), aunt (8%), father (8%). Despite close religious ties, ministers were rarely told (3%). Best female (15%) and male friends (8%) were also told. Family relationships and interactions vary by age of child, with 93% of parents saying they have a good or excellent relationship with their oldest child, but only 42% doing so for next oldest child. 56% of parents say they talk with children about sex, but only 41% about birth control. Discipline is authoritarian, with between 40 and 80% of parents endorsing high authority items on our family functioning scale.
Discussion: Assessments were conducted by a team of interviewers including nurses who conducted the HSA, and psycho-social assessors who conducted the PSA. Adult and children’s assessments took between 1.5 and 2 hours. All study participants were willing to be interviewed at length. Logistics for interviewing multiple eligible and willing family members in private, especially children, had to be considered and privacy in crowded households was stressed. The control arm was modified to become a business capacity program which was time matched to the Project TALC/PIP arm. Next Steps: 386 families with at least one HIV+ parent and one child aged 12-18 were randomized to the separate adult and teen Family Study coping and Control capacity intervention arms; 193 in each arm.
Go Back