Relationship between quality of life and stigma among people living with HIV/AIDS

  Objective   To explore the relationship between quality of life and stigma among persons with HIV infection or AIDS.

  Methods   Anonymous, self-administrated surveys were completed by 215 people living with HIV/AIDS, by using WHOQOL-BREF(Chinese version)and Berger-HIV Stigma Scale to measure quality of life and perceived stigma.Canonical correlation analysis was used to analyze the relationship between quality of life and stigma.

  Results   The average scores of four domains were 50.74(physical), 46.01(psychological), 53.78(social relationships)and 43.94(environment)for quality of life, and 49.89(personalized stigma), 29.77(disclosure concerns), 35.18(negative self2image)and 57.80(concern with public attitudes toward people with HIV)for Stigma, respectively.Canonical correlation analysis revealed that negative self-image and psychological domain were the main factor for perceived stigma and quality of life, respectively.There was a significant negative correlation between negative self-image and psychological level of quality of life(canonical correlation coefficient 0.4938, P < 0.05).

  Conclusion   The less the negative self-image, the higher psychological level of quality of life among people living with HIV/AIDS.