The factor structure of the HIV antibody testing attitude scale in four African countries

To determine the facture structure of the HIV Antibody Testing Attitude Scale (HTAS) in an African population. Method: 760 first-year African university students from Nigeria, South Africa, Uganda and Zimbabwe were surveyed using the HIV Antibody Testing Attitude Scale. Factor structure was determined by using the principal component analysis with varimax rotation. Results: Five components accounting for 51% of the total variance were identified. The first factor (eigenvalue: 5.11) accounted for 23.2% of the variance in the responses and contained items concerned with perceptions on trust and support about HIV antibody testing, the second (eigenvalue: 2.19) 10% of the variance included items that were largely related to general concerns about HIV antibody testing, the third (eigenvalue: 1.51) 6.9% of the variance and included items related to fears about HIV antibody testing, the fourth (eigenvalue: 1.11) 5% of the variance contained items about concerns about the confidentiality of HIV antibody testing, and the fifth factor (eigenvalue: 1.01) accounted for 4.6% of the variance and reflected items about friends’ concerns about HIV antibody testing. Conclusion: This study identified “friends’ concerns”, “confidentiality” and “general or public concerns” about HIV antibody testing like among US students (Boshamer & Bruce, 1999) but two major other factors emerged as ‘trust and support’ and ‘fears’ about HIV antibody testing. Issues around support and fears are relevant facilitators or barriers that are important for youth among African populations.