Quality of life in HIV-positive Brazilians: application and validation of the WHOQOL-HIV, Brazilian version

Abstract

The importance of Quality of Life (QOL) evaluation is a recognized outcome in HIV-related studies. The objective of this study was to test the psychometric properties of the Brazilian version of the WHOQOL-HIV. The QOL of 308 HIV-infected men and women was assessed in the different HIV disease severity stages. Women, younger (<35 years) and married patients were associated with a lower QOL. Psychometric properties of the Brazilian version of WHOQOL-HIV were evaluated: reliability, construct validity, discriminant and concurrent validity. Cronbach alpha was above 0.70 in 27 of the 31 facets of the WHOQOL-HIV and ranged between 0.32 and 0.65 in the remaining four facets. Better QOL scores occurred in early stages of the infection (asymptomatic and symptomatic groups) while the AIDS group showed worse scores in all domains of WHOQOL-HIV, with statistically significant differences in early stages. The correlation between the domains and overall QOL was statistically significant (r>0.5; p<0.01). The Brazilian version of the WHOQOL-HIV adequately discriminated between the QOL of individuals in the different stages of HIV infection, in the expected direction and demonstrated satisfactory reliability and concurrent validity in this study. It would appear to be a useful tool to assess the subjective QOL in people living with HIV and AIDS.