Abstract
Background:Currently there are many children with perinatal HIV infection (PHIV) in Thailand who have survived on effective treatment, and grown up into adolescents and young adults (AYA). We determined their quality of life and HIV adherence self-efficacy.Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted at Research Institute for Health Sciences, Chiang Mai University, Thailand in 2018. Inclusion criteria were: 1) aged between 15-25 years, 2) living with perinatal HIV infection, and 3) receiving ART. Those with mental, physical, or communication problems and could not provide responses independently were excluded. The WHO-quality of life-BREF questionnaire and the HIV Treatment Adherence Self-Efficacy Scale (HIV-ASES) were usedin collecting data by self-administered questionnaires on mobile device.Results: A hundred and eleven AYA-PHIV were included; 52 (47%) were female. Their median age, and duration on ART were 20.2 (IQR 18.2-22.6), and 14.1 (IQR 10.4-14.8) years, respectively. Approximately half (59.4%) of AYA-PHIV rated their overall QOL as favorable (41.4% good,and 18.0% very good), whereas 35.1%rated as neither poor nor good. The mean ± SD domain-wise scores were 54.71 ± 10.80, 59.79 ± 13.17, 63.19 ± 20.56, and 65.32 ± 16.74inthe physical health, psychological health,social relationship, and environmental health, respectively. The overall mean HIV–ASES score was 7.79 ±1.95, with a trend towards higher scores in female than male AYA-PHIV. A positive correlation between HIV-ASES and QOL was observed (r=0.268, p=0.005).Conclusion: Most of AYA-PHIVin Thailand had a favorable QOL and optimal HIV-adherence self-efficacy.Attention should be paid on strengthen their physical and psychological health, with continuous social support. Intervention to boost their HIV-adherence self-efficacy when entering adult life is warranted.
Hemophilia Specific Quality of Life Index in Turkish Children and Young Adults. Cross-sectional Study from a Single Center
