Quality of sexual life for people living with HIV (PLWHA)

Sexuality in patients with human immunodeficiency virus at Embhuleni Hospital in Mpumalanga province

“…10 Sexual dysfunction can be attributed to the fact that sexuality reminds them of their disease. 7 The statistically significant drop in number of sexual partners on HAART, from 38.2% with more than one partner before HAART, to 10.8% after HAART (p-value = 0.000), is encouraging. A recent cohort study found that reports of having unprotected sex and more than one sex partner were less at visits following HAART initiation, than at pre-HAART visits.…”

“…6 El Fane et al found that 70% of participants reported that they did not have satisfying sexual activity. 7 While studies on the impact of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) on sexuality by Lamba et al 8 and Keegan et al 9 have found that patients report a decrease in libido,…”

Experiences of living with a sexually transmitted disease: an integrative review

“…Treatments also bring an opportunity to take more control over long‐term STDs. The course of an STD can be slowed by medication in the case of hepatitis C , and in terms of HIV, antiretroviral therapy has shown promising outcomes . Visible changes caused by the STD may be removed with therapeutic interventions and may also help to control the occurrence of the disease, for example in the case of genital warts (Table ).…”

“…Treatments may, however, be seen as supportive, and this is expressed, for example, in getting support from doctors and nurses . The support provided during treatments means that issues related to sexuality will be discussed with nursing staff after receiving the HIV diagnosis . However, it is possible that nursing staff may exhibit unprofessional behaviour, which manifests as a lack of knowledge in terms of the characteristics of an STD or a lack of understanding of the patients’ perspective (Table ).…”

The Lived Experience of PLWHA and Partner’s Responses toward the Fulfillment of Sexual Needs

“…A study conducted in Morocco involving 134 PLWHA reported that 17% respondents expressed fear to have sex since they did not want to transmit the virus to their couple, whereas 18% were reported to have sexual dysfunction (Fane et al, 2011). In another study, it was reported that of 28 participants, 85.7% expressed the fear from their couples when they were known for HIV positive (Adekanle, Olowookere, Adewole, Adeleke, & Ijadunola, 2015).…”