Quality of life and related factors among HIV-positive spouses from serodiscordant couples under antiretroviral therapy in Henan Province, China

• Published in: PloS one 2011-06, Vol.6 (6), p.e21839
• Main Authors: Shan, Duo, Ge, Zeng, Ming, Shuai, Wang, Lan, Sante, Michael, He, Wensheng, Zhou, Jianping, Liu, Shanglong, Wang, Lu
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Acquired immune deficiency syndrome; Adult; AIDS; Analysis; Antiretroviral agents; Antiretroviral drugs; Antiretroviral therapy; CD4 antigen; China; Couples; Cross-Sectional Studies; Disease control; Disease prevention; Drug therapy; Education; Family medical history; Farmers; Female; High schools; Highly active antiretroviral therapy; HIV; HIV Infections - drug therapy; HIV patients; HIV Seropositivity - drug therapy; Human immunodeficiency virus; Humans; Infections; Male; Married people; Medical personnel; Medicine; Middle Aged; Minority & ethnic groups; Occupations; Quality of Life; Regression analysis; Regression models; Sexually transmitted diseases; Social impact; STD
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0021839

To describe the quality of life and related factors in HIV-positive spouses undergoing ART from discordant couples. A cross-sectional study was conducted among 1,009 HIV-positive spouses from serodiscordant couples in Zhumadian, Henan Province, between October 1, 2008 and March 31, 2009. HIV-positive spouses were interviewed by local health professionals. Quality of life was evaluated by WHOQOL (Chinese Version). A multiple linear regression model was used to analyze the related factors. The majority of subjects were female (56.39%), had received a high school education (44%), were of Han ethnicity (98.41%), and were farmers (90.09%); the median time period of receiving ART was 3.92 years. The physical, psychological, social, and environmental QOL scores of the subjects were 12.91±1.95, 12.35±1.80, 13.96±2.43, and 12.45±1.91 respectively. The multiple linear regression model identified the physical domain related factors to be CD4 count, educational level, and occupation; psychological domain related factors include age, educational level, and reported STD symptom; social domain related factors included education level; and environmental domain related factors included education level, reported STD symptoms, and occupation. Being younger, a farmer, having a lower level of education, a reported STD symptom, or lower CD4 count, could decrease one's quality of life, suggesting that the use of blanket ART programs alone may not necessarily improve quality of life. Subjects received lower scores in the psychological domain, suggesting that psychological intervention may also need to be strengthened.