Patient Perceptions of Maternal HIV Testing Ob-Gyn

Patient Perceptions of Maternal HIV Testing

Ob-Gyn Maternal HIV Testing Study

Coleman et. al., (2009) Patient Perceptions of Obstetrician-gynecologists' Practices Related to HIV Testing. Maternal Child Health Journal 13: 355-363.

The study objectives were to identify the percentage of women who had been tested for HIV, explore the perceptions of women patients about HIV testing and ascertain their knowledge about their own HIV risk status, to determine the primary reasons patients refuse to be tested for HIV, and to learn what patients recall about how their obstetrician-gynecologists' introduced the topic of HIV testing.

The authors hypothesized that pregnant women, women seeking preconception care, and women with risk factors for HIV infection would recall their obstetrician-gynecologists recommending HIV testing" (Coleman, et al., 2009)

Overall research goal & recommendation. The purpose of the study was to identify if patient-physician communication about HIV risks and testing to pregnant women is consistent with current recommended practice, and to determine if patient perceptions about their own level of HIV risk are appropriate.

Study design. The study design was qualitative and a survey research method was employed for data collection.

Variables. A continuous variable can take on any value between two specified values. In other words, a continuous variable is generally some point in a known range of values, and it is not discrete (one of several absolute values that are known). Two examples of continuous variable in the study are:

Multivariate statistical tests. Multivariate statistical analysis is more common in medicine and healthcare than bivariate statistical analysis because the objective is do more than describe an association between two factors. What is desired is an explanation or a prediction -- in any case, a relationship stronger than an association.

Bivariate statistical tests. Bivariate statistical analyses test for a relationship between two variables. Several descriptive statistics were used to summarize the data and to provide a basis for inferential statistical procedures. Independent sample t-tests were used to measure group differences on continuous measurs. A t-test is represents the probability of error of accepting the hypothesis that there is a difference between the two groups. The Chi Square test (X2) was used to test the dichotomous categorical data. Linear regression was used to determine which factors predicted the patients' recall of their physicians' practice. Linear regression is used to analyze the relationship between two variables, referred to as X and Y. For each patient in this study X and Y were known, but the researchers wanted to establish a straight line through the data that minimizes the Sum of the Squares of the vertical distances on a graph of the various points from the line that dissects the points.

Study bias. Participating patients self-selected to complete surveys, and not all survey respondents may have understood the terminology used in the survey in the same way.

Summary of Table 4. The recollection of patients regarding their physicians' practices are shown in Table 4, along with the responses of the physicians. Physician responses reflect their practice standards for recommending testing to women with exhibiting certain attributes or life situations, and also two specific questions that the physicians ask their patients. The responses of patients with regard to various questions are shown categorically for pregnant and non-pregnant women.