Validated measures in the British Columbia CARMA-CHIWOS Collaboration (BCC3) questionnaire
| Survey item | Validated scale |
| Comorbidities | |
| Liver fibrosis | Fibrosis-4 score (cut-off >1.45)111, aspartate aminotransferase/platelet ratio (cut-off ≥1.2)112 |
| Kidney fibrosis, failure | Kidney Failure Risk Equation (cut-off stage ≥3 renal disease)113 |
| Dyslipidaemia | Canadian Cardiovascular Society Guidelines114 115
One or more of: (a) triglycerides≥1.7 mmol/L; (b) high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) ≤1.3 mmol/L; (c) low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) ≥5 mmol/L; (d) Framingham Risk Score 10%–19% and LDL-C ≥3.5 mmol/L or non-HDL-C≥4.3 mmol/L And/or answers yes to the question ‘do you have high cholesterol or lipids’ and/or prescribed lipid medications |
| Depression | Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale116 (validated in people living with HIV).117 Positive score is ≥10 on a scale of 0–30 |
| Anxiety | Generalised Anxiety Disorder 7-item scale118 |
| Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) | 6-item PTSD checklist, cut-off ≥14119 |
| Excess/dependent alcohol use | The 3-item Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test120 |
| Diagnoses such as such as liver disease, kidney disease, osteoporosis/osteopenia, diabetes, hypertension, dyslipidaemia, cardiovascular disease, peripheral vascular disease, cognitive impairment and depression | Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging (survey and data publicly available online)121 will be used to compare to the general Canadian population. |
| Sexual and reproductive health | |
| Menopausal and perimenopausal symptoms | Adapted from Women’s Health Interagency HIV Study Menopause Symptoms Questionnaire;122 Study of Women’s Health Across the Nation Questionnaire123 and the North American Menopause Society Menopause Health Questionnaire124 |
| Sexual functioning | Adapted from the Brief Index of Sexual Functioning for Women scale,125 |
| Sexual satisfaction | Adapted from the Sexual Satisfaction Scale for Women126 |
| Sexual power | Sexual Relationship Power Scale127 |
| Physical, verbal, control and/or sexual violence | Canadian HIV Women’s Sexual and Reproductive Health Cohort study (CHIWOS) Questionnaire128 |
| Socio-behavioural–structural determinants of health | |
| HIV-related stigma | 12-item HIV Stigma Scale-Short Form,129 130 CHIWOS Enacted HIV Stigma Scale131 |
| Gender inequity, racism, sexism | 9-item Everyday Discrimination Scale132 |
| Drug use discrimination | Drug Use Discrimination Scale133 |
| Social supports | 19-item Medical Outcome Study Social Support Score134 |
| Resilience | 10-item Resiliency Scale135 136 |
| Health-related quality of life | 12-item Short Form Survey/Short Form Measure of General Health137 |
| Food security | Household Food Security Survey Module138 |
| Spiritual health | Spiritual Health Scale139 |
| Sense of purpose in life | Oregon Brief Purpose Measure140 |
| Impacts of COVID-19 | Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging,121 WHO Survey Tool141 |
This is not an exhaustive list of all questions in the BCC3 study, but rather those that have come from previously used or validated questionnaires. In some instances, modified/shortened versions of the survey tools are used. The BCC3 survey can be found in it’s entirely on our website at https://hivhearmeca/resources/.