title: Health-seeking behaviour of people living with HIV/AIDS and their satisfaction with health services provided at a tertiary care hospital, Karachi, Pakistan.
abstract: Appropriate health-seeking behaviour is important as it allows prompt treatment for a condition and this can reduce complications and improve quality of life. This study aimed to assess the health-seeking behaviour and satisfaction with health care services of people living with HIV/AIDS attending the HIV/AIDS clinic of the Civil Hospital in Karachi. A total of 182 patients were interviewed using a pretested semi-structured questionnaire. Mean age of the participants was 32.31 (SD 7.91) years, 76.9% were male, 81.3% had no education and 75.8% were employed. Only 23.6% showed positive health-seeking behaviour and 57.7% were satisfied with the health care services. In logistic regression analysis, the cost of treatment per visit < US$ 5 and duration of HIV infection < 2 years were significantly associated with health-seeking behaviour. Efforts are needed to improve the health-seeking behaviour of people living with HIV/AIDS at the clinic and the health services offered.
authors.affiliation: Dow University of Health Sciences, Karachi, Pakistan.
authors.forename: Abdul-Qadir
authors.initials: AQ
authors.lastname: Bhutto
authors.affiliation: Dow University of Health Sciences, Karachi, Pakistan.
authors.forename: Nighat
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Nisar
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010154:Pakistan; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D062606:Tertiary Care Centers; D055815:Young Adult