Quality of life, socioeconomic and clinical factors, and physical exercise in persons living with HIV/AIDS

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To analyze whether socioeconomic and clinical aspects and the aspects of healthylife habits are associated with the quality of life of persons living with HIV/AIDS.METHODS: This is a cross-sectional exploratory quantitative research, with 227 persons livingwith HIV/AIDS, treated at two hospitals of reference between April 2012 and June 2014. We usedstructured questionnaires to assess socioeconomic aspects (gender, age, education level, maritalstatus, race, socioeconomic status, dependents on family income, employment relationship),clinical parameters (time of disease diagnosis, use and time of medication, CD4 T-cell count,and viral load), and practice of physical exercise. To assess quality of life, we used the Qualityof Life questionnaire (HAT-QoL). For characterization of the socioeconomic and clinical dataand domains of quality of life, we conducted a descriptive analysis (simple frequency, averages,and standard deviations). We applied linear regression, following a hierarchical model for eachdomain of quality of life.RESULTS: The domains that presented lower averages for quality of life were financial concern,concern with confidentiality, general function, and satisfaction with life. We found associationswith the variables of socioeconomic status and physical exercise, therapy, and physical exercisefor the last two domains, consecutively.CONCLUSIONS: The quality of life of persons living with HIV/AIDS shows losses, especially inthe financial and confidentiality areas, followed by general function of the body and satisfactionwith life, in which socioeconomic and clinical aspects and healthy living habits, such as thepractice of physical exercise, are determining factors for this reality