Quality of life among people living with HIV/AIDS and its predictors: A cross-sectional study at ART center, Bagalkot, Karnataka

Abstract

Background: Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) emerged as one of the most important public health issues of the late twentieth and early twenty- first centuries. Quality of life (QoL) of people living with HIV/AIDS (PLHIV) is affected by multiple variables including depression as a major predictor of QoL. Aims: To assess the QoL of PLHIV and its predictors. Settings and Design: This cross-sectional study included a sample of 450 PLHIV attending the ART center, District Government Hospital, Bagalkot. Methods and Materials: Data were collected using self-report method and Hospital's records. Tools used for data collection included sociodemographic questionnaire, WHOQOLHIV-BREF scale, and Centre for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D Scale). Bivariate associations were observed through Pearson's correlations, analysis of variance (ANOVA), and t -tests. Multiple linear regression analysis was performed to find the significant predictors of QoL. Results: Findings revealed a significant negative correlation between the QoL and depression (r = –0.751, P < 0.001). A significant regression equation was found (F 14, 435 = 57.76, P < 0.001, adjusted R 2 = 0.64) when all the variables are considered together for finding the significant predictors of the QoL. Male gender, being graduated, not knowing the mode of transmission have positively predicted the QoL. On the other hand, having primary education, being in nuclear family, having HIV-positive wife, having HIV-positive children, HIV infection through homosexual relationships, history of suicidal attempts, and history of alcohol intake negatively predicted the QoL of PLHIV. Depression was the strongest negative predictor of the QoL of PLHIV (β = –0.672, P < 0.001). Conclusions: Interventions aimed at management of depression among PLHIV attending the ART centers would result in enhancing their QoL.

Quality of life among people living with HIV/AIDS in tertiary care centre of Himachal Pradesh

“…As mentioned by other studies like Bakiono et al in Burkina Faso, Alemu et al in North West Ethiopia and Shriharsha et al in Bagalkot, Karnataka noted that people with higher level of education had higher scores. 10,13,16 We also found patients who had tertiary level of education had significantly higher scores in physical, psychological domains and Total QOL scores. The reason may be that people with higher education level had more enlightened attitude towards the disease because of being more aware of HIV.…”

“…Shriharsha et al in Bagalkot, Karnataka, found no statistical difference in any of the domain. 13 All the groups were comparable but no statistically significant difference was found in all the domain scores in relation to age group but apparently patients more than 30 years of age had higher scores as compared to younger age it may be because they are matured, more openminded and have higher tolerance to disease. Opposed to our findings, Liping et al in China and Kumar et al in Karnataka, India found that patients less than 30 years of age had higher scores as compared to older ones.…”

Effect of AIDS-defining events at initiation of antiretroviral therapy on long-term mortality of HIV/AIDS patients in Southwestern China: a retrospective cohort study

“…Research showed that ART also can effectively reduce mortality, delay the progression of the disease, prolong the development of non-AIDS-defining events (non-ADE) to ADE, reduce complications, and prolong lifespan [10]. However, ART-treated patients still face a higher mortality risk and lower quality of life than the general population [11][12][13][14]. Many studies have shown that a low CD4 + cell count, older age, male gender, clinical stage III/IV disease, low body mass index (BMI), and signs/symptoms of AIDS are independent factors related to death among patients on ART [4,[15][16][17][18][19], indicating that patients with ADE may have higher mortality.…”

Effect of AIDS-defining events at initiation of antiretroviral therapy on long-term mortality of HIV/AIDS patients in southwestern China: a cohort study

“…ART can effectively reduce mortality, delay the progression of the disease, prolong the development of non-AIDS-defining events (non-ADE) to ADE, reduce complications, and prolong lifespan [9] . However, ARTtreated patients still face a higher mortality risk and lower quality of life than the general population [10][11][12][13] . Many studies have shown that a low CD4 + cell count, older age, male gender, clinical stage III/IV disease, low body mass index (BMI), and signs/symptoms of AIDS are independent factors related to death among patients on ART [4, [14][15][16][17][18] , indicating that patients with ADE may have higher mortality.…”