Abstract
BackgroundHighly active antiretroviral therapy improves the longevity of patients living with HIV/AIDS. We conducted the study in order to assess health related quality of life of HIV/AIDS patients and the association of socio-demographic and disease related variables with health related quality of life.MethodsHealth facility based cross-sectional study among 400 HIV/AIDS patients taking highly active anti-retroviral therapy from Gondar University referral hospital was conducted. A pre-tested semi-structured questionnaire, which was adopted from World Health Organization Quality of life brief instrument, was used. The data were then analyzed using SPSS version 20 software for Windows.ResultsThe majority of the respondents reported to to have a good physical health (15.55). The World Health Organization clinical stage was found to be significantly associated with all the domains of health related quality of life. The current acute illness condition of the respondents, however, did not show significant association with any of the domains of health related quality of life.ConclusionsThe six domains of health related quality of life were found to be moderate. The physical health and spirituality of the patients were relatively higher than their social relationship. Sex, age, educational status, residence and marital status showed significant association with at least one domain of health related quality of life.
Highlights
Active antiretroviral therapy improves the longevity of patients living with HIV/AIDS
Study setting and design A health facility based cross-sectional study was conducted at Gondar University Referral Hospital (GURH), which is located in the northwestern Ethiopian town of Gondar
Socio-demographic characteristics During the one-month interview period, 468 patients were approached for the participation. 65 of the patients were not willing to participate and 3 questionnaires were discard for the lack of complete medical chart
Summary
Active antiretroviral therapy improves the longevity of patients living with HIV/AIDS. We conducted the study in order to assess health related quality of life of HIV/AIDS patients and the association of socio-demographic and disease related variables with health related quality of life. Since the beginning of the epidemic, about 39 million people have died of HIV/AIDS. 35.0 million people were living with HIV at the end of 2013. The alarming increase of HIV/AIDS, inability to afford highly active anti-retroviral therapy (HAART), disability, stigma, loss of productivity due to illness, and chronic nature of the disease has made HIV/ AIDS one People living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) show different symptoms which may involve flu-like symptoms like fever or rash occurring for a month or two after infection. In terms of mental health, in comparison with the general population PLWHA may be more likely to develop to develop mental disorders like depression or anxiety and major depression is the commonest psychiatric problem occurring associated to the disease [3, 4]
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