The SMSQ

The SMSQ was designed specifically for studies investigating the value of medication for the prevention of HIV, where participants do not have HIV but are in a high-risk group.

The SMSQ was adapted from the widely used HIV Treatment Satisfaction Questionnaire (HIVTSQ: Woodcock and Bradley, 2001, 2006) in 2014 by the copyright holder of the HIVTSQ, Clare Bradley, and her team in consultation with HIV specialist clinicians.

Distinct from the HIVTSQ, the SMSQ refers to ‘medication’ in place of previous references to ‘treatment’. The SMSQ removes all wording referring to the treatment/medication being for HIV and is suitable for use in both routine clinical care and clinical trials.

The SMSQ is an 11-item measure that includes a range of medication satisfaction topics.

Items are rated from 6 to 0. Higher scores indicate greater satisfaction (e.g. 6 ‘very satisfied’ to 0 ‘very dissatisfied’).

The questionnaire also includes an open text box item for participants to note any aspects of the study medication causing either satisfaction or dissatisfaction, not covered by the questionnaire.

The questionnaire is easy to complete and simple to score. All items can be used as stand-alone items or a total score can be calculated.

Two versions of the SMSQ are available; the full 11-item version or the shorter 8-item version. For a more detailed analysis of medication satisfaction the full 11-item version is recommended. When brevity is paramount, an 8-item short-form (excluding demands, convenience and flexibility) can be used.

The SMSQ has been evaluated for use in patients at high risk of HIV. It could, however, be useful in trials evaluating treatments for other viral conditions for which it has face validity. If used in a trial of patients with a virus other than HIV, the psychometric properties of the SMSQ would need to be established, perhaps using data from the trial.

For further details on the SMSQ Status (SMSQs) and SMSQ Change (SMSQc) please see the SMSQ Summary.