Health News
2007-07-07
Self-monitoring
found to reduce high-risk behavior in HIV-positive people
A new study
released by the University of California, Los Angeles's AIDS
Institute has found that self-m
A new study
released by the University of California, Los Angeles's AIDS
Institute has found that self-monitoring is an effective way
to reduce high-risk behavior in people living with HIV
or AIDS.
Having patients
answer questions about their sexual behavior while
waiting for their regular medical examinations causes people
living with HIV to reexamine--and take steps to
change--their behavior, researchers say. The study is
published in the July issue of the medical journal AIDS Care.
The questions
cast light on subjects patients had not previously
considered, explained lead study author Marguerita
Lightfoot, an associate research psychologist at UCLA.
“In other studies we often heard participants
say, ‘Oh, I never really thought about my behavior
like that’ when they completed study
assessments,” she said in a press release from
the institute. “It appeared that by completing the
self-assessments, people reflected on their own
behavior and changed their behavior. It’s very
easy to implement and very cost-effective.”
The researchers
studied 365 people living with HIV who were recruited
from community health clinics and other organizations. They
ranged in age ranging from 19 to 69. More than half
were part of a ethnic minority.
While waiting for
their scheduled appointments, participants were taken
to a private room where they filled out questionnaires about
their sexual behavior. Questions addressed a number of
topics, including the number of sexual partners they
have, the sexual acts they regularly perform, and how
often they use condoms.
The study found
that the more self-assessments the patient completed, the
higher the odds were that they used condoms with
HIV-negative partners or people whose status was
unknown at the time. Researchers also found that
sexual activity decreased over time as patients became more
aware of their behavior.
“Consequently, it appears that allowing PLH (people
living with HIV) to reflect on their sexual behavior
influences their subsequent decisions regarding sexual
behavior,” the researchers wrote in the press
release. “It is likely that by having the
patients acknowledge and report, in a nonconfrontive
and nonjudgmental manner, those behaviors that could
result in transmission of HIV, their motivation to reduce
HIV-transmission-related behavior increased and their
attitudes became more conducive to reducing risk
behaviors."
The press release
concluded that “self-assessments appear to be a
promising avenue for promoting behavior change in a setting
which PLH regularly interface.” (The
Advocate)
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