Effect of psycho-education on quality of life of Human Immunodeficiency Virus-infected adult patients attending a tertiary hospital in north-central Nigeria

Abstract

Background: Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) infection is a disease of public health importance. HIV-related stigma remains a significant problem in people living with the disease. The stigmatization is associated with psychological trauma and poor quality of life outcomes. Hence, the study set out to determine the effect of psycho-education on the quality of life of this group of people.

Methods: The study was a single-blind randomized control trial involving 130 HIV-infected adult patients attending the Special Treatment Clinic of University of Abuja Teaching Hospital. Participants were randomly assigned into an intervention group and a control group. The intervention offered was psycho-education which was delivered individually using a structured format. The intervention group received routine care plus psycho-education while the control group received routine care plus education on hygiene (as placebo). Data was collected about participants' socio-demography, medical history and social history. Their QOL was assessed using the WHOQOL-HIV BREF tool before and twelve weeks after intervention. Data was analyzed using SPSS version 16 and p values <0.05 were considered statistically significant.

Results: Majority of the study participants were aged between 35 and 44 years (36.0%). Most were females (68.0%), Christians (79.5%), married (61.5%), civil servants (31.1%) and with tertiary education (37.7%). The mean QOL score was highest in the spiritual domain (15.8) and lowest in the environmental domain (13.1). At baseline, there was no statistically significant difference in the mean QOL scores between the intervention and control groups. However, at the end of the twelve week follow up period, the mean QOL scores for the intervention group was higher than those of the control group in all the domains of QOL. The difference was statistically significant in all the domains except the physical domain. The p-values were 0.053, <0.001, <0.001, 0.010, 0.038 and <0.001in the physical, psychological, level of independence, social relationship, environmental and spiritual domains respectively.

Conclusion: In conclusion, Psycho-education offered alongside with routine care is effective in improving QOL of HIV-infected adults.

Keywords: Psycho-education, Quality of life, HIV, Adults, Hospital