Abstract
ABSTRACT Objective: to develop and validate a scale to measure the quality of life of people living with HIV in Brazil. Method: methodological study conducted in a Brazilian care service specialized in sexually transmissible infections/AIDS between 2017 and 2019 addressing people living with HIV. The scale’s development and validation included exploratory factor analysis to describe its factor structure and psychometric properties, Multitrait-Multimethod analysis to verify its validity and Cronbach’s alpha for reliability. Floor and ceiling effects were described according to the responses’ frequency distribution. Results: a total of 460 people living with HIV participated. Most were men 276 (60.0%) aged 43 on average (SD=±12.4). The Exploratory Factor Analysis revealed four factors with 39.9% of explained variance. The total scale presented satisfactory reliability with a Cronbach’s alpha equal to 85.0%. Most items presented satisfactory convergent and divergent validity. The presence of floor and ceiling effects were found. The scale’s final version was composed of 45 items. Conclusion: the Quali-HIV Scale is a valid and reliable tool to measure the quality of life of people living with HIV.
Highlights
By the end of 2019, 38 million people lived with the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) worldwide[1]
HIV is considered a debilitating, transmissible chronic disease, which under immunosuppressive conditions, allows the emergence of opportunistic infections that worsen an individual’s clinical conditions[2]. Because it is a chronic disease, after the antiretroviral therapy (ART) is implemented, people living with HIV experience changes in their quality of life (QoL), possibly compromising aspects such as life satisfaction and HIV mastery, treatment adherence, in addition to increased concern with financial issues and health[3]
A total of 460 people living with HIV (PLHIV) participated in this study, and the information concerning 367 participants was used to describe the scale’s factor structure and remaining psychometric properties
Summary
By the end of 2019, 38 million people lived with the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) worldwide[1]. HIV is considered a debilitating, transmissible chronic disease, which under immunosuppressive conditions, allows the emergence of opportunistic infections that worsen an individual’s clinical conditions[2]. Because it is a chronic disease, after the antiretroviral therapy (ART) is implemented, people living with HIV experience changes in their quality of life (QoL), possibly compromising aspects such as life satisfaction and HIV mastery, treatment adherence, in addition to increased concern with financial issues and health[3]. QoL is a multidimensional and subjective concept that includes parameters such as wellbeing, self-care with health and diet, and how satisfied people are with their living conditions[4]. The QoL construct among people living with HIV (PLHIV) is strongly linked to their health conditions[5]
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