Impact of antiretroviral therapy on health-related quality of life among South African women in the CAPRISA 002 acute infection study.
Concerns are often raised regarding potentially adverse effects of antiretroviral therapy (ART) on health-related quality of life (HRQoL), but there is limited longitudinal data to prove this. Building on our prior investigation, we examined the impact of ART on HRQoL among HIV-infected South African women with extensive follow-up in the CAPRISA 002 Acute Infection Cohort Study. Overall HRQoL and five sub-domains [physical well-being (PWB), emotional well-being (EWB), functional and global well-being (FGWB), social well-being (SWB) and cognitive functioning (CF)] were assessed using the Functional Assessment of HIV Infection (FAHI) instrument. Our analyses comparing FAHI scores between pre-ART (established infection) and ART phases using paired Wilcoxon signed-rank tests and adjusted mixed-effects regression models revealed improvements on ART in overall HRQoL, and in PWB, EWB, and SWB, but not in FGWB and CF. No long-term adverse impact of ART on HRQoL was detected, providing additional non-biomedical support to early treatment strategies.
Centre for the AIDS Programme of Research in South Africa (CAPRISA), Doris Duke Medical Research Institute, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Private Bag X7, Congella, 4013, South Africa, tomita@ukzn.ac.za.
Andrew
A
Tomita
Nigel
N
Garrett
Lise
L
Werner
Jonathan K
JK
Burns
Nelisiwe
N
Ngcobo
Nomthandazo
N
Zuma
Koleka
K
Mlisana
Francois
F
van Loggerenberg
Salim S
SS
Abdool Karim
D000208:Acute Disease; D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000328:Adult; D019380:Anti-HIV Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D023241:Antiretroviral Therapy, Highly Active / Q000379:methods*; D018791:CD4 Lymphocyte Count; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006679:HIV Seropositivity / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011788:Quality of Life; D012044:Regression Analysis; D018434:Sickness Impact Profile; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013019:South Africa / Q000453:epidemiology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D019562:Viral Load
D019380:Anti-HIV Agents