Abstract
Objective Old people living with HIV (PLWH) are experiencing a lower quality of life (QoL) than their younger counterparts and have received insufficient attention in China. Given that social capital has been proven to be effective in improving QoL in other countries, we aimed to examine the association between social capital and QoL among old PLWH in China. Methods The data presented in this study was based on the baseline sample of an ongoing observational prospective cohort study, which was carried out from November 2018 to February 2019. Participants were old PLWH aged ≥50 in Sichuan, China, and were recruited by stratified multistage cluster sampling from 30 communities/towns. A total of 529 eligible participants finished the face-to-face investigation to measure their social capital (i.e., individual and family- (IF-) based social capital and community and society- (CS-) based social capital) and QoL. The QoL's dimensions of physical health summary (PCS) and mental health summary (MCS) were taken as dependent variables. Stepwise linear regression models were used to examine the association between social capital and QoL. Results After considering all significant covariates, the PCS was nonsignificantly correlated with IF-based social capital (β = −0.08, 95% CI [-0.28-0.11]) and CS-based social capital (β = 0.28, 95% CI [-0.03-0.59]), and MCS was significantly correlated with IF-based social capital (β = 0.77, 95% CI [0.54-0.99], p < 0.001) and CS-based social capital (β = 0.40, 95% CI [0.08-0.72], p < 0.05). Conclusion Targeted interventions related to building up social capital should be applied to improve the QoL of old PLWH. Providing extra relief funds and allowances might be helpful to improve PCS; improving community networking and engagement and improving family care might be helpful to improve MCS among this vulnerable population.
Highlights
HIV/AIDS is a serious threat to health for people of all age groups
77.1% had their permanent residence registered in a rural area, 16.2% were illiterate, 47.1% had only attended primary school, 51.1% were married and living with their spouse, 60.3% were unemployed, 76.6% earned a monthly income of less than 2,000 RMB, 38.1% had their spouses diagnosed with HIV, and 65.2% had been infected by sexual behaviors with a nonspouse opposite-sex partner
This study investigated the association between social capital and quality of life (QoL) in old people living with HIV (PLWH), based on the Sichuan Old HIV-Infected Cohort Study (SOHICS) baseline in China
Summary
HIV/AIDS is a serious threat to health for people of all age groups. People living with HIV (PLHW) are faced with the higher risk for some noncommunicable diseases, such as hypertension, diabetes, chronic lung diseases, and cancers (e.g., anal, liver, oral cavity, and pharyngeal cancers) [1, 2], as well as with more serious burdens of some communicable diseases, such as hepatitis B infection. The PLWH aged over 50 years, referred to as the old PLWH [4, 5], are more vulnerable to the aforementioned issues than their younger counterparts due to the poor immunity [2, 6]. Old PLWH are more susceptible to acquired immunodeficiency syndrome- (AIDS-) related opportunistic infections (e.g., mycobacterium tuberculosis), compared with their younger counterparts [7,8,9]. The PLWH’s quality of life (QoL), usually defined as an individual’s overall perception of their physical state, psychological functions, social ability, and individual comprehensive conditions based on social economy, cultural background, and value orientation [10], is generally lower
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