Factors affecting patients' acceptance of H.I.V. infections

A study on patients' acceptance of the diagnosis of HIV infection was done in 36 patients at Ramathibodi Hospital. Patients were interviewed based on the data in a questionnaire. Over one half of the patients were 21-40 years old. Eighteen patients were prostitutes. The stages of the infection were: AIDS in 1, AIDS-related complex in 9 and asymptomatic in 26 cases. The rate of acceptance of having the infection did not differ regarding age, education, income, risk factors in acquiring the infection, and the stage of the disease. However, all patients who had worked in a foreign country did not accept the diagnosis while all who had never worked abroad did. Patients whose family knew that they had the infection accepted the diagnosis better than those whose family did not know. It is concluded that a substantial portion of patients did not accept that they had HIV infection. Counselling must be appropriately applied to each individual.