Document 2345
 DOCN  M94A2345
 TI    The reproducibility of HIV transmission category in Italian AIDS
       surveillance.
 DT    9412
 AU    Dal Maso L; Serraino D; Franceschi S; Tirelli U; Epidemiology Unit,
       Aviano Cancer Centre, Italy.
 SO    Int Conf AIDS. 1994 Aug 7-12;10(1):325 (abstract no. PC0234). Unique
       Identifier : AIDSLINE ICA10/94370230
 AB    OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the reliability of the assignment of AIDS cases
       to HIV transmission categories (e.g., intravenous drug users, homosexual
       and bisexual men) in national surveillances. METHODS: Reproducibility of
       transmission categories was assessed by means of kappa (K) statistics in
       728 Italian AIDS cases (637 males and 91 females) for whom this type of
       information derived from two independent sources: the Italian AIDS
       Registry, RAIDS, the national compulsory notification scheme, and the
       Italian Cooperative Group on AIDS and Tumours, GICAT. RESULTS: A good
       degree of reproducibility (K > 0.80) emerged for intravenous drug users
       and recipients of blood and blood products in both sexes and for
       homosexual and bisexual men. Conversely, the concordance was poor for
       heterosexual and other/undetermined transmission categories, especially
       among males (K = 0.40 and K = 0.21, respectively). DISCUSSION AND
       CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that the reliability of the
       classification of some transmission categories is unsatisfactory and
       that the present definition of at risk heterosexual partners in Italy
       may lead to a gross underestimation of the proportion of AIDS cases
       acquired heterosexually. Furthermore, as the magnitude of AIDS epidemic
       increases, national statistics may need to abandon the report of
       transmission category for each case and concentrate on the monitoring of
       AIDS diagnoses and HIV-related deaths.
 DE    Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome/EPIDEMIOLOGY/*TRANSMISSION  Blood
       Transfusion/STATISTICS & NUMER DATA  Cross-Sectional Studies  Female
       Human  HIV Infections/EPIDEMIOLOGY/*TRANSMISSION  Incidence  Italy  Male
       *Population Surveillance  Reproducibility of Results  Risk Factors  Sex
       Behavior  Substance Abuse, Intravenous/COMPLICATIONS/EPIDEMIOLOGY
       MEETING ABSTRACT

       SOURCE: National Library of Medicine.  NOTICE: This material may be
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