Definition of a core set of quality indicators for the assessment of HIV/AIDS clinical care: a systematic review

• Type: Another Publication in an International Scientific Journal
• Date: 2013

Authors

Catumbela, E (Author) Other; Certal, V (Author) Other; Freitas A (Author) FMUP; Costa, C (Author) Other; Sarmento A (Author) FMUP; Costa-Pereira A (Author) FMUP

Journal

Title: BMC Health Services Research

Vol. 13

Final page: 236

ISSN: 1472-6963

Publisher: Springer Nature

Indexing

ISI Web of Knowledge - 23 Citations

Scopus - 25 Citations

Other information

Authenticus ID: P-006-9ZD

DOI: 10.1186/1472-6963-13-236

Abstract (EN): Background: Several organizations and individual authors have been proposing quality indicators for the assessment of clinical care in HIV/AIDS patients. Nevertheless, the definition of a consensual core set of indicators remains controversial and its practical use is largely limited. This study aims not only to identify and characterize these indicators through a systematic literature review but also to propose a parsimonious model based on those most used. Methods: MEDLINE, SCOPUS, Cochrane databases and ISI Web of Knowledge, as well as official websites of organizations dealing with HIV/AIDS care, were searched for articles and information proposing HIV/AIDS clinical care quality indicators. The ones that are on patient's perspective and based on services set were excluded. Data extraction, using a predefined data sheet based on Cochrane recommendations, was done by one of the authors while a second author rechecked the extracted data for any inconsistency. Results: A total of 360 articles were identified in our search query but only 12 of them met the inclusion criteria. We also identified one relevant site. Overall, we identified 65 quality indicators for HIV/AIDS clinical care distributed as following: outcome (n=15) and process-related (n=50) indicators; generic (n=36) and HIV/AIDS disease-specific (n=29) indicators; baseline examinations (n=19), screening (n=9), immunization (n=4), prophylaxis (n=5), HIV monitoring (n=16), and therapy (=12) indicators. Conclusions: There are several studies that set up HIV clinical care indicators, with only a part of them useful to assess the HIV clinical care. More importantly, HIV/AIDS clinical care indicators need to be valid, reliable and most of all feasible.

Language: English

Type (Professor's evaluation): Scientific

No. of pages: 11