Quality of Life and Its Correlates Among Clients Visiting Antiretroviral Therapy Clinics in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Abstract

Background: As a chronic illness with potential complications in physical, emotional, social, and economic aspects, HIV poses deterioration in patients’ quality of life.The aim of this study was to assess status of the functional and current quality of life, and associated factors among clients visiting ART clinics in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Methods: A multi-site cross-sectional study was conducted in August 2020. All adults with HIV and on active ART at least for 6 months earlier to the study period, and visiting the selected public health facilities were considered. Facilities were selected purposively, and clients were enrolled using a systematic random sampling technique after a proportion to size allocation. Data were collected using a modified and translated questionnaire of the EQ 5D and EQ-VAS. The analysis was done using SPSS v.26 for windows. Descriptive statistics and non-parametric inferential tests namely; Mann Whitney U test, Kruskal Wallis test, and Spearman’s correlation tests were carried out to test the presence of correlates with dependent variables. Ethical approval was sought from Saint Paul’s Hospital Millennium Medical College and Addis Ababa regional health bureau. Results: Out of 371 clients, the majority were from health centers (58%), aged 43 years or below (54%), males (63%), either with primary or secondary education (61%) and married (46.6%) while half were either government or private employees. Pain/discomfort and depression/anxiety were the dimensions most affected with predominance in the age group above 43. The mean score of EQ 5D index values was 0.87 (SD: ±0.05; 95% C.I; 0.86-0.87) and that of EQ-VAS was 81 (SD: ±15, 95% C.I: 80-83). About 38% and 43% of the clients showed an altered health state of any degree in functional and current overall status respectively. Comorbidity, history of current substance use, facility type, social support, and sleep disturbance showed a statistically significant correlation with the functional and current overall health status. Conclusion: A considerable proportion of clients have altered functional and overall health status with pain/discomfort and depression/anxiety most affected. Inclusion of multidisciplinary treatment for HIV and the highlighting of psychosocial issues that are likely amongst this group are warranted.