Social support status and associated factors among people living with HIV/AIDS in Kunming city,China
Abstract Background HIV/AIDS not only need effective treatment to alleviate their physical discomforts, but also need social support to help them solve their life difficulties and relieve their psychological anxiety and uneasiness.Social support network is of great significance to help HIV/AIDS maintain good physical and mental health.This study aims to analyse the social support status among people living with HIV/AIDS in Kunming and explore the associated factors. Method A Social Support Rating Scale(SSRS) was used,and the questionnaire survey was conducted by using the method of convenient sampling to select HIV/AIDS from 14 county of Kunming city.It collected information on general demographic information and social support status.Univariate and multivariate linear regressions models were used to explore the associated factors. Results A total of 990 valid questionnaires were completed.Data from all patients were analyzed. Univariate analysis suggested that the factors associated with social support may include marital status,monthly income,antiretroviral therapy.On the other hand, factors including monthly income and antiretroviral therapy account for social support total score in multivariate analysis. Conclusion The social support of HIV/AIDS in Kunming was generally low. This study identified a number of factors associated with social support among HIV/AIDS.Based on our findings,appropriate interventions should be introduced to provide social support for HIV/AIDS.