title: Measuring quality of life among HIV-infected women using a culturally adapted questionnaire in Rakai district, Uganda.
abstract: To examine self-reported quality of life and health status of HIV-infected women and a comparison sample of HIV-uninfected women in rural Uganda, we culturally adapted a Lugandan version of the Medical Outcomes Survey-HIV (MOS-HIV). We administered a cross-sectional survey among 803 women (239 HIV-positive and 564 HIV-negative) enrolled in a community study to evaluate maternal and child health in Rakai District, Uganda. The interview took 20 minutes and was generally well-accepted. Reliability coefficients were >0.70, except for role functioning, energy and cognitive function. MOS-HIV scores for HIV-positive women were correlated with increasing number of physical symptoms and higher HIV viral load. Compared to HIV-negative women, HIV-positive women reported lower scores than HIV-negative women for general health perceptions, physical functioning, pain, energy, role functioning, social functioning, mental health and overall quality of life (p all <0.01). Substantial impairment was noted among women reporting >/=4 symptoms. In summary, HIV-positive women reported significantly poorer functioning and well-being than HIV-negative women. We conclude that patient-reported measures of health status and related concepts may provide a feasible, reliable and valid method to assess the impact of HIV/AIDS and future therapeutic interventions to improve patient outcomes in rural Africa.
authors.affiliation: Department of International Health, Johns Hopkins University, Bloomberg School of Public Health, MD, Baltimore, USA. christopher_mast@merck.com
authors.forename: T C
authors.initials: TC
authors.lastname: Mast
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Kigozi
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Wabwire-Mangen
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Black
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Sewankambo
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Serwadda
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Gray
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wawer
authors.forename: A W
authors.initials: AW
authors.lastname: Wu
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000523:psychology*; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D009035:Mothers / Q000523:psychology; D011788:Quality of Life / Q000523:psychology*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012423:Rural Health; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires / Q000592:standards*; D014454:Uganda