Changes health-related quality of life in HIV-infected patients following initiation of antiretroviral therapy: a longitudinal study

• Published in: The Brazilian journal of infectious diseases 2019-07, Vol.23 (4), p.211-217
• Main Authors: Dutra, Brenda Soares, Lédo, Ana Paula, Lins-Kusterer, Liliane, Luz, Estela, Prieto, Indira Rodriguez, Brites, Carlos
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Analysis; Antiretroviral agents; Antiretroviral Therapy; Care and treatment; Comorbidity; Disclosure of information; Health; Health surveys; Health-related quality of life; Highly active antiretroviral therapy; HIV; HIV infections; HIV patients; INFECTIOUS DISEASES; Medical research; Original; Patient Reported Outcome Measures; Regression analysis; Sexual disorders; Surveys
• ISSN: 1413-8670; 1678-4391; 1678-4391
• DOI: 10.1016/j.bjid.2019.06.005

Several tools have been developed to evaluate HIV health-related quality of life (HRQoL) during and after antiretroviral therapy (ART). Few longitudinal studies evaluated the effect of ART on the quality of life of HIV patients. To evaluate changes in HRQoL in HIV-infected individuals one year after initiating ART. A prospective study was conducted from May 2016 to July 2018. Data on clinical and sociodemographic characteristics of 91 HIV-infected patients were collected prior to initiation of ART and one year thereafter. Demographic and clinical data were collected and the questionnaires 36-item Short Form Health Survey (SF-36) and HIV/AIDS-targeted quality of life (HAT-QoL) were administered in both periods. Asymptomatic individuals, aged ≥18 years, were included in the study. Patients who discontinued treatment were excluded. The association between predictors of physical and mental HRQoL was analyzed by multiple linear regression analysis. Patients were predominantly male (78.0%), mean age 35.3 ± 10.7 years, with no stable relationship (80.2%), and no comorbidities (73.6%). Most of the SF-36 domains improved after one year, particularly Physical Function (p = 0.0001), General Health (p = 0.0001), Social Functioning (p = 0.0001), Mental Health (p = 0.001), and Mental Component Summary (p = 0.004). HAT-QoL domains improved in the Overall Function (p = 0.0001), Life Satisfaction (p = 0.0001), Provider Trust (p = 0.001), and Sexual Function (p = 0.0001) domains. Sex (p = 0.032), age (p = 0.001), income (p = 0.007), and stable relationship (p = 0.004) were good predictors of the Physical Component Summary. Sex (p = 0.002) and stable relationship (p = 0.038) were good predictors of the Mental Component Summary. SF-36 and HAT-QoL scales presented strong correlations, except for Medication Concerns (0.15–0.37), HIV Mastery (0.18–0.38), Disclosure Worries (−0.15 to 0.07), and Provider Trust (−0.07 to 0.15). ART improved HRQoL after one year of use. The HAT-QoL and SF-36 correlated well and are good tools to evaluate HRQoL in HIV-infected patients on ART.