Validation of a Multidimensional Scale for the Detection of Health Needs in People With HIV

Launched by GIOVANNI DI PERRI · Jul 11, 2025

Keywords

ClinConnect Summary

The study, called MUSA (Validation of a Multidimensional Scale for the Detection of Health Needs in People With HIV), is an observational, forward-looking study in people living with HIV. Researchers want to test how well a multidimensional screening approach works to identify problems across 12 areas that can affect health and daily life—things like thinking and memory, mood and anxiety, sleep, overall quality of life, daily functioning, nutrition, social and economic factors, stigma, and how many medicines or substances people are taking. The goal is to improve how well problems are predicted and managed so that care can be better and quality of life can improve.

Participants will be adults (age 18 and older) with confirmed HIV who can understand Italian and give informed consent. To ensure a diverse group, at least about one-third will be women and at least one-third will be ages 50 or older. Exclusions include having an acute illness or dementia that could affect testing, and anyone who cannot consent. The study is happening at multiple Italian centers and plans to enroll about 200 people. It involves completing interviews and short tests, plus some information from medical records about health conditions, medicines, and alcohol or drug use. This is an observational study with no experimental treatment, and recruitment is by invitation; the study began in 2024 and is expected to complete the main analysis toward the end of 2025.

Gender

ALL

Eligibility criteria

• Inclusion Criteria:
• • Age 18 years and older
• • Confirmed HIV infection
• • Good understanding of the Italian language
• • Signature of informed consent
• • Inclusion of at least 33% women and at least 33% people older than 50 years of age
• Exclusion Criteria:
• • Acute ongoing diseases that, in the opinion of the investigators, may affect the performance of the tests (bacterial or viral infections, neoplasms under active chemotherapy treatment)
• • Dementia or other severe neurodegenerative/neurocognitive disorders.
• • Individuals unable to express consent independently and/or supported by protective legal figures