Rapid psychosocial function screening test identified treatment failure in HIV+ African youth.

Psychosocial dysfunction in older children and adolescents is common and may lead to nonadherence to HIV treatments. Poor adherence leads to HIV treatment failure and the development of resistant virus. In resource-limited settings where treatment options are typically limited to only one or two available lines of therapy, identification of individuals at highest risk of failure before failure occurs is of critical importance.

Validation of the Pediatric Symptom Checklist in HIV-infected Batswana.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the validity of the Pediatric Symptom Checklist (PSC), a brief measure of psychosocial health, for screening HIV+ Batswana children. METHOD: Setswana versions of the parent and child PSC were administered to 509 HIV+ Batswana children (age 8-16) and their parents/guardians. Test properties were evaluated and cut-off scores were derived using receiver operating characteristic curve analysis.