SBIR-STTR Award

The purpose of this project is to support validation study, assessment of yield, and refinement of microcomputer software providing personal, anonymous, and self-administered risk assessment for HIV infection. The software, for which initial design and programming has been completed, incorporates educational text followed by an interactive interview. The risk assessment is based upon analysis of personal data by the software's expert system, which incorporates a probability equation. Users at risk for HIV are advised to follow up with an antibody test. The software writes anonymous case data to DOS files for interface with statistical software. The system does not require users to possess specialized training. Preliminary validation study of the software was assisted by the University of Oklahoma, and findings were consequently published in the fall 1991 issue of the journal AIDS Education and Prevention [3:(3):215-229].Awardee's statement of the potential commercial applications of the research:Potential licensees may be found in the form of state and local governments, public schools and libraries, clinics and various health facilities, universities, counseling centers, and private sector employers with employee health education programs.National Cancer Institute (NCI)

This project is to support the continued testing, validation, and refinement of computer software for personal anonymous risk assessment for HIV infection. The software, originally developed as a stand-alone microcomputer system, performs a detailed interview in privacy. Personal sexual history data provided by the respondent is analyzed by the software's expert system which incorporates probability computation supported by databases consisting of local estimates of HIV infection and per-event infectivity specific to vaginal and anal intercourse. The software also interviews respondents and assesses risk on the basis of personal intravenous drug abuse and blood transfusion history. The software advises respondents as to whether their past experience places them at risk for HIV infection. If so, they are advised to follow up with antibody tests. Users not at risk are cautioned to avoid risk of exposure to HIV. The interactive interview is preceded by a sequence of educational screens. Additionally, the software writes anonymous interview data to disk file for statistical analysis in support of health behavior research. The software was tested in a preliminary study which yielded publication. Continued research was supported by a Phase I SBIR grant. For a Phase II project, several new tasks are proposed and presented in the research plan.