Health-related quality of life of people living with HIV/AIDS accessing care in a tertiary health-care center in North West Nigeria

Abstract

Background: Worldwide, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) continues to be a major public health issue. The vast majority of people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) resides in low- and middle-income countries, such as Nigeria, and they suffer the impact of the disease with serious effect on their health-related quality of life (HRQoL). Aim: This study aimed at assessing the HRQoL of PLWHA attending retroviral clinic of a tertiary health care center. Methodology: The study was conducted at the retroviral clinic of a tertiary health institution, having about 4500 clients. PLWHA were recruited into the study using systematic sampling technique. The instrument of data collection was modified from the World Health Organization QoL HIV bref questionnaire. The questionnaires were analyzed with IBM software package version 20. Results: The overall domain scores for the respondents were; physical domain 62.8 ± 16.3; psychological domain 57.7 ± 15.8; social relationship domain 55.6 ± 17.5; environmental domain 59.2 ± 12.1; while the overall QoL and general health of all the respondents were 65 ± 21.8. The overall QoL and general health status of respondent were only significantly positively correlated with place of residence (P = 0.01). Respondents' perception of their current illness was negatively correlated with physical (r = −0.483), psychological (r = −0.393), social relationship (r = −0.397), environment (r = −0.329), and overall QoL scores (r = −0.530). Conclusion: Generally, the mean QoL domain scores for the respondents were high (>50). Very low QoL scores were seen in the social domain, suggesting that more social interventions are required in this population.