Experiences and Attitudes of People with HIV/AIDS: A Systematic Review of Qualitative Studies

Abstract

The aim of this article was to explore the experiences and attitudes of people with HIV/AIDS. A systematic review of qualitative studies was carried out. Twenty-seven articles were included, with sample sizes ranging from 3 to 78. Articles from North America, South America, Central America, Europe, and Africa were included. Five topics emerged from the synthesis: feelings about the diagnosis of HIV/AIDS; stigma and HIV/AIDS; changes in sexual behavior after becoming infected; living with the virus; and pregnancy and motherhood in seropositive women. The moment of diagnosis is of vital importance for these people due to feelings such as disappointment, sadness, fear, despair, lack of awareness, and pain. Social support is highly valued among these people and is linked to an improvement in these peoples’ quality of life. Different kinds of stigma accompany people with HIV/AIDS throughout their life, like social stigma, self-stigma, and health professionals’ stigma. Seropositive women who decide to become mothers can feel frustration because they cannot breastfeed. Spirituality helps some people to deal with the fact of being a virus or disease carrier.

A Qualitative Examination of Perceived Stigma and its Sources Among Adolescents Living With HIV in Western Kenya

“… 6 , 7 This work is critical, especially in LMIC, as demonstrated by a 2019 review that highlighted negative health-related stigma outcomes in these settings for “high-burden” diseases, including HIV. 8 However, neither the evaluation of stigma-related health outcomes, 8 nor qualitative examinations of anti-HIV stigma experiences, 9 have historically focused on the outcomes and perspectives of children and adolescents living with HIV (ALWH). 10 A recent systematic review of qualitative studies examining the experiences and attitudes of PLWH, where nearly half of all included studies assessed individuals’ perspectives on stigma, did not include a single study assessing this key population.…”

Understanding the experiences and perception of people living with HIV on integrative traditional East Asian medicine management in Korea: an interview protocol for qualitative research

“…Existing qualitative studies related to HIV-infected patients have been conducted on stigma, changes in sexual behaviour after infection, pregnancy and maternity in HIV-positive women, feelings about HIV/AIDS diagnosis, 15 and spiritual meaning. These studies did not address ITEAM.…”

“… 14 This stigma also negatively affects the formation of relationships with people and leads to social isolation. 15 Conventional medicines used to alleviate these symptoms have limitations as they increase the pharmacological burden and can lead to polypharmacy and drug interactions. 16 For emotional support, technology-mediated interventions such as online social media and telephone are used in a variety of ways, but they have insignificant or negative effects in terms of improving the QoL.…”

Frameworks, measures, and interventions for HIV-related internalised stigma and stigma in healthcare and laws and policies: systematic review protocol

“…To date, a substantial number of systematic reviews has been published that address different aspects of HIV-related stigma and discrimination. These include associations of stigma (covariates, causes or effects), 13–40 access to care, 41–66 HIV testing, 67–91 country-specific explorations of stigma or discrimination, 92–109 the role of stigma and discrimination in treatment adherence, 110–127 HIV experiences of people living with HIV or their care givers, 128–141 stigma/discrimination reduction in the community, 142–153 HIV disclosure considerations, 154–162 stigma/discrimination in healthcare, 163–170 rights and regulations, 171–177 intersectionality, 178–183 measuring stigma, 184–189 HIV prevention, 190–193 stigma reduction in low income countries, 194–197 self-stigma 7 198 199 and other, unique topics. 200 201 We build on these reviews which outline existing research and point to persistent knowledge gaps.…”