Marital adjustment and quality of life among HIV discordant couples

Abstract

Introduction: Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is spreading at a very fast pace. HIV is still a global epidemic with number of treatment module, yet there is no vaccine to prevent. Number of efforts made by the World Health Organization, National Governments and humanitarian organizations to spread awareness and provide support. In India National AIDS Control Society (NACO) is the nodal agency under Ministry of Health and Family Welfare to work on this public health issue. Within the people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA), one of the typical groups is the Discordant Couples (DCs). HIV discordant couple (DC), live as family unit, in sexual relationship having mismatch HIV status. Material and methods: The present study was conducted with 200 discordant couples of India. For this quantitative study, sociodemographic schedule and two scales were administered. Marital adjustment was measured through marital adjustment scale and WHOQOL-BREF scale used to measure quality of life (QOL). Data was analyzed through SPSS v16. Results: Result revealed marital adjustment was good among most of the couples and QOL was moderate. It was found that couples faced number of discriminations, stigma, and always had apprehension about disclosure of the HIV positive status to the neighbors, employers, extended family members that impacted quality of life. Conclusions: With strong marital bond and adjustment, the couples supported each other to deal with the situation. Though these couples were receiving medical support from the government run counselling centers, yet the lack of specific service protocol for the DCs is a major gap in the service provisions.