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American Public Health Association
133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition
December 10-14, 2005
Philadelphia, PA
 APHA 2005
 
3242.0: Monday, December 12, 2005 - Board 5

Abstract #109339

Quality of life of women with HIV/AIDS in Puerto Rico

Douglas Santos, PhD, Eddie Marrero, PhD, and Janet Bonilla, PhD. Social Sciences Department, University of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez Campus, P.O. Box 9266, Mayaguez, PR 00681, 787 832 -4040 ext 3839, dsantos@ceci.uprm.edu

Background: Studies examining the quality of life based on mental health measures among people living with HIV/AIDS (PLHA) began in the early1980s. Consistently, cross sectional studies have reported elevated levels of impaired functioning, and high psychological distress. However, most of this information refers to White gay men and men using intravenous drugs. Still research on women living with HIV/AIDS, particularly Puerto Rican women ( residents) in Puerto Rico remains underdeveloped. Methods: The sample consisted of 100 women with HIV/AIDS that were randomly selected from a public health care center located on the west coast of Puerto Rico. A sampling frame was constructed using the following criteria: active medical record, ages between 18 and 50, and under HIV/AIDS treatment for at least two months. Participants answered a computerized structure interview questionnaire after signing a consent form. The measures included the World Health Organization Disability Assessment Schedule (WHO-DAS), the Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI), and The Center for Epidemiologic Studies for Depression (CESD). Results: Extremely high levels of both anxiety and depressive symptoms were identified in the sample. Specifically, over 50% and 40% of the women interviewed scored above the cut-off point in the BAI and in the CESD respectively. Close to 40% of sample showed high levels of functional impairment based on the 6 domains included in the WHO-DAS. Conclusion: A significant percent of the women showed a poor level of functional impairment and extremely high levels of psychological distress. Quality of life of the participants are discussed based on the findings.

Learning Objectives:

  • 1)describe the level of psychological distress of a sample of women with HIV/AIDS residing in Puerto Rico.
  • 2)describe the functional impairment associated with of the HIV/AIDS illness within 6 domains

    Keywords: Mental Health,

    Presenting author's disclosure statement:

    I wish to disclose that I have NO financial interests or other relationship with the manufactures of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services or commercial supporters.

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    The 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition (December 10-14, 2005) of APHA