Quality of life and psychological health of people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) seen in Benin City, Nigeria

Abstract

Background: Living with HIV/AIDS affects a wide spectrum of an individual's life ranging from the physical, social, economic to the psychological. The demands and implications of the disease impact on the Quality of life and psychological health of sufferers. The objective of this study is thus to assess the quality of life and psychological health of PLWHA seen in Benin City, Nigeria.
Material & Methods: The study was conducted in Benin City, Nigeria. The study population involved eight hundred and forty one (M=216, F=625) people living with HIV/AIDS of varying socio-demographic background. Data was collected using the World Health Organization Quality of Life (WHOQOL)-BREF and General Health Questionnaire (GHQ 28). Data was analysed descriptively and analytically using Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 21. Patients were consecutively recruited from the consultant  outpatient clinics of the University of Benin Teaching Hospital and Central Hospital, Benin City.
Results: Our results show that more females were represented in this study than males (M=216; 25.7%; F=625; 74.3%).). The gender of PLWHA did not affect their quality of life on all the domains of WHOBREF nor the likelihood of the presence of psychological disorder as measured by GHQ 28. Patients aged above seventy years had a significantly higher likelihood of vulnerability to  psychological disorder. Employed PLWHAhad a significantly higher quality of life on the physical health domain (P=0.001) of  WHOBREF and fared better than the unemployed on all other domains of WHOBREF.
Conclusion: The generality of the study population assessed their quality of life as very good as well as their health. The absence of psychological disorder in a majority of the PLWHA corroborates their evaluation and further underscores the relationship between quality of life and mental health. Our result stresses the need to pay attention to aged PLWHA.

Keywords: HIV/AIDS, Quality of life, Psychological health, Nigeria.