title: Quality of life and psychosocial well-being among children living with HIV at a care home in Southern India.
abstract: This study was designed to evaluate the quality of life (QOL) of children living with HIV at an institutional care home in Bangalore, India. The Sneha Care Home is a unique residence that provides educational and community support with a focus on physical, nutritional, medical, and psychological care for orphans and vulnerable children. Cross-sectional health measures and interview data were collected from 97 residents including 52 boys and 45 girls between 5 and 12 years of age (mean age = 9). QOL was measured with the Pediatric Quality of Life 4.0 (PedsQL) Inventory. Caregivers perceived children to have an overall higher QOL than was self-reported by children (total score 83 vs. 78). Our findings indicated self-reported QOL decreased with age of the child, while caregiver-reported QOL increased with age, suggesting a need to ensure greater psychological support for older children. Physical measures showed the children's clinical severity of disease remained well controlled living in this residential, values-based care home.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Tess
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Lang
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Elsa
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Heylen
authors.affiliation: St. John's College of Nursing, Bangalore, Karnataka, India.
authors.forename: Sheeja
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Perumpil
authors.affiliation: St. John's College of Nursing, Bangalore, Karnataka, India.
authors.forename: Anita
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Shet
authors.affiliation: St. John's College of Nursing, Bangalore, Karnataka, India.
authors.forename: Mathew
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Perumpil
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Wayne
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Steward
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Emily
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Shamban
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Maria L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Ekstrand
keywords: HIV; India; children; orphans; quality of life