Quality of life, depression and correlates in HIV+ people at An Hoa Clinic, Ho Chi Minh City

ABSTRACT

This study investigated correlates of quality of life (QOL) among people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWH) at An Hoa Clinic, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Inclusive criteria were PLWH ≥18 years old, under antiretroviral therapy (ART) for ≥3 months, and consent to participate. PLWH who were illiterate, too ill, or at the final stage of AIDS were excluded. QOL was assessed using WHOQOL-BREF-HIV. Depressive symptoms were assessed using the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale. For every point increased in depression score, QOL decreased 0.13 points in Physical (p < .001), 0.12 points in Psychological and Social Relationships (p < .001), 0.07 points in Level of Independence (p < .001), 0.09 points in Environment (p < .001), and 0.15 points in Personal Beliefs domain (p < .001). PLWH from an economically disadvantaged household had lower QOL scores for all QOL domains but Personal Beliefs with differences ranging from 0.81 points for Social Relationships to 1.77 points for Environment domain. PLWH with a co-morbidity had lower scores whereas those living with a spouse and adhering to ART medication had higher scores in at least one QOL domain. In conclusion, depressive symptoms, household economy, living with a spouse, having a co-morbidity and ART medication adherence were important factors associated with PLWH’s QOL.

KEYWORDS:

• WHOQOL-BREF-HIV
• CESD
• longitudinal
• Vietnam

Acknowledgements

ANVH, KGT, DVD designed the study. ANVH collected the data. KGT drafted the manuscript. QGT did the analysis and edited the manuscript. MTHN supported data collection. KGT, ANVH, DVD, QGT, MTHN contributed to interpretation of data. ANVH, DVD, QGT, MTHN critically reviewed the manuscript for important intellectual content. The dataset is available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

ORCID

Quyen G. To http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3355-6326

Kien G. To http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5038-5584