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APHA 1996 Abstract: Development of Parallel Case Histories to
Measure HIV/AIDS Knowledge and Ability
Presented at: American Public Health Association 124th Annual Meeting, November 1996
Development of Parallel Case Histories to Measure HIV/AIDS Knowledge and Ability. Donna G. Anderson, Ph.D. M.P.H., Sara J. Martin, M.P.H. and Carol P. Vojir, Ph.D. An innovative feature of the Mountain-Plains Regional AIDS ETC's Special Project of National Significance (SPNS) is the use of case histories as impact evaluations. Rather than simply testing increase in knowledge, this project seeks to determine if providers can apply that knowledge to actual HIV-related care situations. Project personnel, with input from an advisory committee, developed four separate case histories that cover key information presented in each of the three different educational methods. Two case histories are related to early intervention care situations and two are related to HIV prevention issues. The case histories are used as two separate sets, each set consisting of one early intervention and one prevention case history. Each set contains 18 multiple choice, two true/false and four open-ended questions. During September and October, 1995, the study's self-instruction method and the research instruments were pilot tested with a group of target health care providers selected from eight states in the Rocky Mountain and Western Great Plains region. Thirty-two providers were contacted (four from each state) and 28 completed both the pre- and post-tests. To determine whether the tests were parallel, pilot study participants randomly received either the "A" or the "B" set of case histories at pre- and post-test. T-test analyses found no significant differences in mean scores for the two pre-test groups or for the two post-test groups. This provided assurance that the two sets of case histories are comparable in measuring providers' ability to apply HIV/AIDS knowledge to patient care situations. The case history instruments detected significant changes in providers' mean scores from pre- to post-test. HIV/AIDS educators and researchers can develop and utilize case history instruments as a means to determine the impact of their educational programs.
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