title: Quality of life of people living with HIV/AIDS: a cross-country comparison study of Finland and Portugal.
abstract: The premises underlying the development of the World Health Organization Quality of Life (WHOQOL) instruments provide a convincing rationale for comparing quality of life (QoL) across countries. The aim of the present study was to compare the QoL of patients living with HIV infection in Finland and in Portugal, and to examine the contribution of the QoL domains to the overall QoL in these two countries. The sample comprised 453 patients from Finland (76.3% male; mean age = 46.50) and 975 from Portugal (69.2% male; mean age = 40.98), all living with HIV. QoL data were collected by use of the WHOQOL-HIV-Bref questionnaire. Significant country differences were found in QoL domains and specific facets. Patients from Finland reported markedly higher scores on all six QoL domains and general facet, than did their Portuguese counterparts. Regarding the specific facets of the WHOQOL-HIV-Bref, patients from Finland also reported significantly higher scores on 24 out of 29. The exceptions were dependence on medications and treatment, positive feelings, personal relationships, sexual activity, and on spirituality, religion and personal beliefs. Regression analyses showed that physical, psychological, and independence domains contributed to overall QoL among the Finnish patients (R(2) = 0.63), whereas among the Portuguese, the domains significantly associated with overall QoL were physical, psychological, independence, and environment (R(2) = 0.48). Country differences in QoL domains and specific facets may reflect sociocultural differences between southern and northern Europe.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine , University of Helsinki , Helsinki , Finland.
authors.forename: Nuno
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Nobre
authors.affiliation: b Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences , University of Coimbra , Coimbra , Portugal.
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pereira
authors.affiliation: c Infectious Disease Clinic, Inflammation Center , University of Helsinki and Helsinki University Hospital , Helsinki , Finland.
authors.forename: Jussi
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sutinen
authors.affiliation: b Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences , University of Coimbra , Coimbra , Portugal.
authors.forename: Maria Cristina
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Canavarro
authors.affiliation: a Department of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine , University of Helsinki , Helsinki , Finland.
authors.forename: Harri
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Sintonen
authors.affiliation: d Research Centre for Comparative Effectiveness and Patient Safety , University of Eastern Finland , Kuopio , Finland.|e Division of infectious diseases, Inflammation Center , University of Helsinki and Helsinki University Hospital , Helsinki , Finland.
authors.forename: Risto P
authors.initials: RP
authors.lastname: Roine
mesh_terms: D000163:Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome / Q000523:psychology; D000328:Adult; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D005260:Female; D005387:Finland / Q000453:epidemiology; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000523:psychology; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011174:Portugal / Q000453:epidemiology; D011788:Quality of Life; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012067:Religion; D012725:Sexual Behavior / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D029181:Spirituality; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
keywords: Cross-country comparison; HIV; WHOQOL-HIV-Bref; quality of life