Health related quality of life among both current and former injection drug users who are HIV-infected

Abstract

Background: This study aimed to determine factors associated with higher levels of health related quality of life (HRQL) among individuals HIV-infected through drug injection and to evaluate the impact of injecting drug status and opiate substitution treatment (OST) on HRQL.

Methods: Two hundred and forty-three patients, enrolled in the MANIF cohort of patients HIV-infected through IDUs, participated. They completed a self-administered questionnaire, which included an HRQL evaluation (SF-12) and socio-demographic/clinical characteristics at the 42-month visit. Injecting drug status, OST and experience of negative life events (NLE) were collected at any follow-up visit in order to reconstitute individual trajectories.

Results: Among the 243 patients, 35% reported a normal mental HRQL and 37% a normal physical HRQL. Independent predictors of "normal" mental HRQL were social support from partner, being a former IDU, no experience of violence-related NLE and few self-reported HAART-related side effects. "Normal" physical HRQL was predicted by younger age, stable partner, being a former IDU (> or = 6 months), CD4 cell count > 500, no experience of financial-related NLE and few HAART self-reported side effects.

Conclusions: As HRQL has been found to have a prognostic value on the survival of HIV patients infected through drug injection, then providing more comprehensive care (for example by paying more attention to patients' experience of stressful events, meeting their needs in psychosocial support and better management of perceived toxicity) could globally improve treatment outcomes in this vulnerable population.