Exploring Physical Problems among Postpartum Women with Hiv/AIDS in West Java, Indonesia: A Qualitative Study

Abstract

Indonesia is experiencing the fastest HIV/AIDS cases development in Asia, especially with regards to mother to child transmission levels. Postpartum women with HIV may suffer from a lot of physical problems due to the immune system disruption. Many of them have high risk for opportunistic infection such as tuberculosis, chronic diarrhea, and meningitis. Few studies have been conducted into these physical problems, especially in a low income country whereas the access to HIV drugs is still limited. This study aims to explore the physical problems among postpartum women with HIV/AIDS in West Java, Indonesia. This study used a qualitative design with a phenomenology approach. The semi-structured interview was used to collect information from women of between 24 and 38 years old, with a child with a maximum age of 12 months, and various other inclusion criteria. Purposive sampling was applied to select the participants. Colaizzi’s method was used to analyze the data. Six participants agreed to join in this study. We found three themes concerning the major physical problems experienced by postpartum women with HIV/AIDS: 1) physical response toward disease prognosis; 2) body weight changes, and 3) the side effects of HIV drugs. The most common physical symptoms were exhaustion, fever, headache, low back and joint pain, nausea, and weight change. Physical symptoms management design and implemented in health care services should provided for HIV/AIDS patients.
 
 Keywords: HIV/AIDS, Physical, Problems, Postpartum women, qualitative study