Health-related quality of life and associated factors among HIV-positive individuals on antiretroviral therapy at Debre Markos Referral Hospital, Northwest Ethiopia

Abstract

Introduction: Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-positive patients struggle with numerous social problems; they are vulnerable to repeated opportunistic infections that withdraw them from regular work, which further leads to economic problems and reducing their overall quality of life. Therefore, the aim of this study was to assess health-related quality of life (HR-QoL) and associated factors among HIVpositive individuals on antiretroviral therapy at Debre Markos Referral Hospital, Northwest Ethiopia. Material and methods: An institution-based cross-sectional study was conducted among 428 randomly selected adult HIV-positive individuals on antiretroviral therapy. Data were entered into Epi-data software version 3.1 and then exported to STATA version 14 for analysis. Binary logistic regression was fitted, and adjusted odds ratio (AOR) with 95% confidence interval (CI) was computed. Variables with p-value < 0.05 in multi-variable logistic regression model were significantly associated with HR-QoL. Results: The proportion of good HR-QoL was 46% (95% CI: 41.3-50.8%). The mean score of QoL was highest for independence domain (12.78%) and lowest for spiritual domain (11.63%). Variables, such male (AOR: 1.88; 95% CI: 1.15-3.07%), urban residence (AOR: 4.11; 95% CI: 1.44-11.73%), alcohol drinking (AOR: 3.04; 95% CI: 1.66-5.59%), attending counselling service (AOR: 2.62; 95% CI: 1.58-4.34%), working functional status (AOR: 4.03; 95% CI: 1.73-9.35%), viral load less than 1,000 copies (AOR: 2.27; 95% CI: 1.31-3.94%), and highest wealth quintile category (AOR: 1.26; 95% CI: 1.08-3.89%) were significantly associated with good HR-QoL. Conclusions: In this study, HR-QoL for HIV patients on antiretroviral therapy was poor. Being male, urban residence, drinking alcohol, attending counseling service, working functional status, viral load, and wealth quintile were significantly associated with HR-QoL of HIV individuals on antiretroviral therapy.