title: A comparison of quality of life between HIV positive and negative diamond miners in South Africa.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To analyse the health-related quality of life (HR-QOL) in two groups of diamond miners (HIV negative and positive) in South Africa using three instruments. Two hypotheses were to be tested. One, was that the HR-QOL of HIV positive miners would be lower than that of HIV negative miners; and two, the selected instruments would behave consistently and thus all would confirm hypothesis one.
  
  
  METHODS
  In our study, workers were recruited during a voluntary counselling and testing programme for HIV. HR-QOL were estimated using the Assessment of Quality of Life (AQOL) Mark 2, EQ-5D (EuroQOL), and Health Utilities Index 3 (HUI3) instruments. The data were analysed for utility values and for correlations between variables of interest (in particular HIV status). Goodness of fit, Pearson's r coefficient and t-tests were the statistical tests applied to the data.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Just over 1100 respondents were included in the analysis. HIV positive workers scored significantly lower on quality of life on the HUI3 as compared to HIV negative workers but this relationship did not (surprisingly) hold for the AQOL or EQ-5D. There was a significant positive correlation between all three instruments.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  There was inconsistency among the instruments in measuring quality of life differences according to HIV status. The HUI3 confirmed the a priori expectation that the HR-QOL of HIV positive miners would be lower than HIV negative miners. There was no statistical difference for the AQOL and a confounding result was found for the EQ5D.
authors.affiliation: a PhD, Associate Professor, is affiliated to the School of Accounting, Economics and Finance , University of Southern Queensland , Toowoomba , Australia.
authors.forename: Jeff
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gow
authors.forename: Gavin
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: George
authors.forename: Kaymarlin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Govender
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003376:Counseling; D003863:Depression / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D018130:Diamond; D005260:Female; D018023:HIV Seronegativity; D006679:HIV Seropositivity / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006305:Health Status Indicators; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008906:Mining; D016272:Occupational Health; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011788:Quality of Life; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013019:South Africa / Q000453:epidemiology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
chemical_list: D018130:Diamond