Differences in quality of life and food insecurity between men and women living with hiv/aids in the state of paraíba, brazil

Abstract

A prevalence study was conducted to compare quality of life and food insecurity in men and women living with HIV/AIDS. The sample comprised 481 HIV-infected individuals under-going antiretroviral therapy at a referral hospital in the State of Paraíba, Brazil. Food insecurity and quality of life were assessed using the Brazilian Household Food Insecurity Scale and WHO-QOL-HIV Bref, respectively. The results were presented as absolute and relative frequencies and gender differences were tested using the chi-squa-red test adopting a significance level of 0.05. The findings showed that 40.1% of the sample were women. A higher percentage of women than men had a low income and low education level (65.8% and 72.5%, respectively). Prevalence of food security was lower in women than in men (29.0% compared to 42.7%), and a higher percentage of women than men reported below average quality of life (54.9% compared to 44.4%). The findings reveal that, besides the usual difficulties faced by HIV-infected patients, this group showed a signi-ficant level of gender inequality. The management of HIV patient care should consider these impor-tant findings, promoting access to care and su-pport services and gender equality so that women can live fairer and more equal lives.