A study to assess the quality of life (QOL) psychiatric morbidity in HIV/AIDS individuals before and after the initiation of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) in a tertiary care hospital in Raichur
Journal Title: Medpulse International Journal of Psychology - Year 2017, Vol 2, Issue 1
Abstract
Since its first documentation in 1981, Acquired Immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) has been one of the dreaded and most researched diseases of today‘s era. It has been notified as a pandemic and since the beginning, almost 70 million people have been infected with the Human Immune Deficiency Virus with about 35 million people having died of AIDS. A multitude of factors interact to cause psychological stress in these individuals resulting in psychiatric morbidity, some of them being fatality of infection, fear of stigmatization, uncertainty about the future, avoidance by family and friends, concerns related to children, family and finances, etc. Depression and anxiety are the commonest clinical conditions diagnosed in. A follow up study of 64 patients above the age of 18 years, both male and female, with HIV/AIDS, attending the Anti-Retroviral Treatment Centre (ART) of the NMC, Raichur was undertaken. WHO-QOL (BREF) was used to assess their quality of life, prior to initiation of HAART. Quality of life increased across all four domains in the current study population with a maximum increase seen in the social domain (49.02 to 60.26), followed closely by the others. There was a statistically significant increase in the quality of life of the patients as CD4 increased (mean 48 to 56). The above findings indicate that with adequate adherence to HAART, individuals with HIV/AIDS are likely to respond with an increased physical wellbeing as well as psychological wellbeing. This would enable them to use more adaptive coping mechanisms, and improve their overall quality of life. These in turn would help them to sustain adherence to treatment altering the course of the illness in a favourable manner.
Authors and Affiliations
Sharana basavaraj, Sunil Kumar, Pavan Kumar K, Neeta T Gavimath
Keywords
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