Psychometric Evaluation of the Health Care Provider HIV/AIDS Stigma Scale (HPASS) Using Rasch Analysis
Author(s)
Goswami S1, Barnard M2, Bynum LA3, Thompson S4, Kang M5
1University of Mississippi, University, MS, USA, 2Department of Pharmacy Administration, University of Mississippi School of Pharmacy, University, MS, USA, 3Belmont University College of Pharmacy, Nashville, MS, USA, 4North Dakota State University, Fargo, MS, USA, 5University of Mississippi, School of Applied Sciences, University, MS, USA
Introduction: Pharmacists play an important role in caring for individuals with HIV/AIDS. However, stigma in healthcare settings can be a deterrent to providing appropriate care. This study assessed psychometric properties and convergent validity of Health Care Provider HIV/AIDS Stigma Scale (HPASS) among pharmacy students in the United States (U.S.) using Rasch analysis. Methods: Students enrolled in four U.S. universities were administered the survey (N=203). Rasch analysis was conducted for each HPASS subscale to assess dimensionality, model-data fit, item difficulty, person’s stigma level, distribution items and persons across item-person map and rating scale function using the rating scale model. Convergent validity evidence was established by comparing Pearson’s correlation coefficients between HPASS subscales and AIDS Attitude Scale (AAS) (Avoidance and Empathy subscales). Results: All the items fit the respective subscales well except Item 15[Infit Mnsq=2.50, Outfit Mnsq=4.09] and Item 13 [Infit MnSq=1.52, Outfit MnSq=1.56] in the Prejudice subscale which were misfit and therefore removed. The 6-point rating scale did not perform satisfactorily for any of the three HPASS subscales. Item difficulty ranges were wide[Stereotyping(–5 to 0.8 logits), Discrimination(-6 to 1 logits), Stereotyping(-5 to 0.4 logits)]. Items in all three subscales were biased towards measuring higher levels of stigma. Person separation index was satisfactory(Stereotyping=2.2; Discrimination=2.06; Prejudice=2.17), as was person separation reliability(Stereotyping=0.83; Discrimination=0.81; Prejudice=0.83). Convergent validity was established by showing significant correlations between HPASS subscales and AAS–Avoidance(p<.001) and AAS-Empathy(p<0.001). Conclusion: Modifying or removing misfit items of HPASS and exploring alternate rating scales for HPASS subscales will help better assess HIV/AIDS related stigma among pharmacy students. Having a validated scale that measures different dimensions of stigma among pharmacy students will enable the use of this scale routinely in pharmacy curriculum to assess education related unmet needs and allow tailoring of the training modules to accommodate the same.
Conference/Value in Health Info
2022-05, ISPOR 2022, Washington, DC, USA
Value in Health, Volume 25, Issue 6, S1 (June 2022)
Code
PCR32
Disease
Infectious Disease (non-vaccine)