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. 2023 Jan-Dec:22:23259582231164241.
doi: 10.1177/23259582231164241.

Health-Related Quality of Life in People Living With HIV With Cognitive Symptoms: Assessing Relevant Domains and Associations

Kate Alford  1 , Sube Banerjee  2 , Stephanie Daley  3 , Elizabeth Hamlyn  4 , Daniel Trotman  4 , Jaime H Vera  1   5
Affiliations

Health-Related Quality of Life in People Living With HIV With Cognitive Symptoms: Assessing Relevant Domains and Associations

Kate Alford et al. J Int Assoc Provid AIDS Care. 2023 Jan-Dec.

Abstract

This study aimed to validate and assess a comprehensive set of illness-specific health-related quality of life (HRQL) domains in people living with HIV (PLWH) with cognitive symptoms. One hundred and three HIV patients with cognitive symptoms (n = 93 male, 90.3%) were identified from two UK HIV clinics and complete a series of validated scales measuring seven HRQL domains identified as important to HRQL by PLWH with cognitive impairment. These included: physical functioning, cognition, social connectedness, self-concept, HIV stigma, acceptance of and perceived control over cognitive health, and physical and mental health and wellbeing. Exploratory factor analysis confirmed that domain total scores loaded onto one main factor, representing HRQL. Scale cut-off scores revealed a significant proportion of patients scored outside the normal range on single domains (between 26.2% and 79.6%), and many patients on multiple domains (40.8% on 4 or more domains). We found evidence of poor HRQL across domains in the majority of PLWH with cognitive symptoms and identified domains driving these experiences. This provides targets for intervention development and clinical action to maintain or improve HRQL in PLWH with cognitive symptoms or impairment.

Keywords: HIV; HIV-associated neurocognitive disorder; cognitive impairment; health-related quality of life; patient-centred care; quality of life.

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Conflict of interest statement

The author(s) declared conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship and/or publication of this article: K.A., S.D., E.H and D.T. declare no conflicts of interest. J.H.V. has received honoraria and research grants, been a consultant or investigator in trials sponsored by Merck, Janssen Cilag, Piramal and Gilead sciences. He has received sponsorship to attend scientific conferences from Janssen Cilag, Gilead Sciences and AbbVie. S.B. reports grants and personal fees from Abbvie, personal fees and non-financial support from Lilly, personal fees from Eleusis, Boehringer-Ingelheim, Axovant, Lundbeck, and Nutricia, all outside the submitted work; he has been employed by the Department of Health for England. These funders had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript, or in the decision to publish the results.

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