title: Assessment of quality of life in people living with HIV in Georgia.
abstract: The purpose of our study was to assess quality of life (QoL) among Georgian HIV-infected individuals and to examine factors associated with QoL. Our cross-sectional study sample consisted of 201 HIV-infected adult outpatients recruited at the National AIDS Center in Tbilisi, Georgia. WHOQOL-HIV-BREF was used to measure QoL. Data about other variables of interest were obtained from medical records. Modified Poisson regression with robust variance estimates was performed to create a predictive model of factors that influenced QoL. The study results showed the following factors as predictors of good general QoL: antiretroviral (ARV) treatment (prevalence ratio (PR)=2.87 (95% CI: 1.45, 5.67)); higher education level (PR = 1.51 (95% CI: 1.05, 2.17)); CD4 cells ≥200 cells/mm3(PR = 1.83 (95% CI: 1.13, 2.94)); and age ≥40 years (PR = 1.60 (95% CI: 1.09, 2.36)). However, all factors examined were associated with at least one QoL domain. Our study suggests that HIV-infected individuals younger than 40 years and those with lower education level are more likely to have poorer QoL, while those receiving ARV treatment tend to have better QoL. This highlights the importance of educational interventions and ARV treatment in HIV patients. Future research should seek to implement additional evidence-based actions to improve QoL in this population.
authors.affiliation: 1 Infectious Diseases, AIDS and Clinical Immunology Research Center, Tbilisi, Georgia.
authors.forename: Ekaterine
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Karkashadze
authors.affiliation: 2 Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, University at Albany (SUNY), Rensselaer, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Margaret A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Gates
authors.affiliation: 1 Infectious Diseases, AIDS and Clinical Immunology Research Center, Tbilisi, Georgia.
authors.forename: Nikoloz
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Chkhartishvili
authors.affiliation: 3 Department of Medicine, SUNY Downstate Medical Center, Brooklyn, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Jack
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: DeHovitz
authors.affiliation: 1 Infectious Diseases, AIDS and Clinical Immunology Research Center, Tbilisi, Georgia.
authors.forename: Tengiz
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tsertsvadze
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D044966:Anti-Retroviral Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D018791:CD4 Lymphocyte Count; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003863:Depression / Q000523:psychology*; D005221:Fatigue / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D005846:Georgia (Republic) / Q000453:epidemiology; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D011788:Quality of Life / Q000523:psychology*; D012944:Social Support; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D019562:Viral Load
chemical_list: D044966:Anti-Retroviral Agents
keywords: AIDS; HIV; QoL; WHOQOL-HIV