Health-related quality of life and coping strategies among people living with HIV: the moderating role of gender

Abstract

The aim of the study was to explore gender differences in the level of health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and coping strategies among people living with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) (PLWH). In particular, the moderating role of participants’ gender on the relationship between coping strategies and HRQoL was explored, while controlling for socio-medical data. A total of 444 HIV-infected men and 86 HIV-infected women were recruited to participate in the study. This was a cross-sectional study with the HRQoL assessed by the World Health Organization (WHO) Quality of Life-BREF (WHOQOL-BREF) and the coping strategies measured by the Brief COPE inventory. Although the HIV-infected men and HIV-infected women differed in terms of some HRQoL domains, these differences disappeared in the regression analysis after controlling for socio-demographic data (employment and higher education). In addition, several statistically significant interactions between participants’ gender and coping strategies in relation to HRQoL domains were observed. Future research on gender differences in HRQoL among PLWH should take into account unique differences between HIV-infected men and HIV-infected women across, not only in respect to socio-medical factors but also regarding psychosocial variables.

Trajectories of Health-Related Quality of Life and Perceived Social Support Among People Living With HIV Undergoing Antiretroviral Treatment: Does Gender Matter?

“…Specifically, our finding may revise the long-lasting and relatively persistent trend in the literature, which points to lower HRQoL among female PLWH than male PLWH based on cross-sectional data only (e.g., Campsmith et al, 2003; Mrus et al, 2005; Solomon et al, 2008; Chandra et al, 2009). Some authors observed that gender differences in HRQoL within this patient group may be apparent, i.e., they disappeared after careful adjustment of the results with regard to some clinical (e.g., longer illness duration; Ruiz-Perez et al, 2009) or sociodemographic data (worse employment and education status; Rzeszutek, 2017). In other words, lower quality of life among female PLWH does not necessarily reflect their more difficult or different adjustment to HIV/AIDS in comparison to male PLWH but may rather be a result of other factors that have not been carefully controlled for in other studies (Bogart et al, 2011; Rzeszutek, 2017).…”

When risk becomes illness: The personal and social consequences of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia medical surveillance

“…In terms of smoking and stress associated with the disease, the findings of studies of patients living with human immunodeficiency virus are consistent with our findings. Previous studies have shown that people did not stop smoking because it was a stress management strategy [60] and that patients adopted avoidant emotional coping strategies to be calm [61].…”

What determines employment quality among people living with HIV: An empirical study in China

“…This result is consistent with prior findings. For instance, Rzeszutek [ 43 ] argued that higher education an important personal property in coping with HIV-related psychological burden among PLWH, and protecting them from workplace discrimination. Similarly, Chou & Choi [ 25 ] noted that highly educated PLWH are capable of accessing and utilizing resources for improved employment outcomes.…”