Quality of life and hostile mentality trend of patients with HIV/AIDS in China.
OBJECTIVE
To assess the quality of life (QOL) and hostile mentality trend (HMT) of patients with human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) in China, and to identify their major concerns.


METHODS
Short Form-36 (SF-36) was used to assess QOL, and seven items were developed to assess the HMT. In-depth interviews were conducted with patients and health workers.


RESULTS
SF-36 had moderate reliability, with Cronbach's alpha coefficients ranging from 0.75 to 0.90 and test-retest correlation coefficients ranging from 0.54 to 0.80 for the eight domains. The item-subscale correlation coefficients ranged from 0.46 to 0.97. The QOL of patients with HIV/AIDS was significantly lower than the average QOL of the general population (P<0.01). Hostile mentality of patients was significant (mean scores of the seven items ranged from 2.87 to 4.32, and the mean sum of scores was 3.45 from a range of 1-5). Cronbach's alpha coefficient of HMT items was 0.75 and the test-retest correlation coefficient was 0.80. The major concerns of patients with HIV/AIDS were financial insecurity and family responsibilities, followed by the fear of death and no cure for HIV/AIDS.


CONCLUSIONS
SF-36 is a reliable instrument for the assessment of QOL of patients with HIV/AIDS. The QOL of patients with HIV/AIDS in China is poor. The HMT is a valuable indicator to monitor the outcomes of care for patients with HIV/AIDS.
Meng
Ya-Jun
YJ
School of Public Health, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, China. mengyajun2005@sina.com
Li
Ning-Xiu
NX
Liu
Chao-Jie
CJ
Chen
Jian-Hua
JH
Song
Yan-Chao
YC
Qian
Zu-Shu
ZS
D000163:Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome / Q000523:psychology*; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006791:Hostility; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011287:Prejudice; D011788:Quality of Life / Q000523:psychology*; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors