Assessing quality of life in women living with HIV infection

The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of demographic, clinical and psychosocial variables on health-related quality of life in women living with human immunodeficiency virus infection. Subjects included 82 women 18 years of age or older who were currently seeking treatment at an outpatient clinic. The Medical Outcomes Study-Short Form 20 (SF-20) assessment consisted of patient self-ratings on 20 items measuring six distinct health dimensions. Additional data were collected on age, ethnicity, education, employment status, length of time since HIV diagnosis, CDC stage of disease, total CD4 count, number of symptoms, Karnofsky Performance Scores, social support and discrimination. Multiple regression analyses were performed using each of the six health dimension scores as dependent variables and a combination of ten demographic, clinical and psychosocial variables as independent variables. All of the six multiple regression equations were statistically significant, with R(2) values ranging from 0.35 to 0.44. Age, Karnofsky Performance Score and social support were statistically significantly related to several scale scores (p < 0.05). These results provide baseline data on clinical, demographic and psychosocial determinants of quality of life in a female patient population. Quality of life information can assist programme planners in developing social and medical service delivery for women in the community thus facilitating the development of treatments, programmes and interventions aimed at increasing quality of life for this population.