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. 2013 Apr 18;8(4):e62353.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0062353. Print 2013.

Food access and diet quality are associated with quality of life outcomes among HIV-infected individuals in Uganda

Tia Palermo  1 , Rahul Rawat, Sheri D Weiser, Suneetha Kadiyala
Affiliations

Food access and diet quality are associated with quality of life outcomes among HIV-infected individuals in Uganda

Tia Palermo et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

Background: Food insecurity is associated with poor nutritional and clinical outcomes among people living with HIV/AIDS. Few studies investigate the link between food insecurity, dietary diversity and health-related quality of life among people living with HIV/AIDS.

Objective: We investigated whether household food access and individual dietary diversity are associated with health-related quality of life among people living with HIV/AIDS in Uganda.

Methods: We surveyed 902 people living with HIV/AIDS and their households from two clinics in Northern Uganda. Health-related quality of life outcomes were assessed using the Medical Outcomes Study (MOS)-HIV Survey. We performed multivariate regressions to investigate the relationship between health-related quality of life, household food insecurity and individual dietary diversity.

Results: People living with HIV/AIDS from severe food insecurity households have mean mental health status scores that are 1.7 points lower (p<.001) and physical health status scores that are 1.5 points lower (p<.01). Individuals with high dietary diversity have mean mental health status scores that were 3.6 points higher (p<.001) and physical health status scores that were 2.8 points higher (p<.05).

Conclusions: Food access and diet quality are associated with health-related quality of life and may be considered as part of comprehensive interventions designed to mitigate psychosocial consequences of HIV.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing Interests: The authors declare that partial funding for this study came from the Kerry Group. This does not alter the authors' adherence to all the PLOS ONE policies on sharing data and materials. The authors have no competing interests to declare.

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