QUALITY OF LIFE OF PEOPLE LIVING WITH HIV/AIDS IN ACCRA, GHANA AKUA AFRIYIE ADDAE & HAWABU ABDUL-KARIM KNUST COUNSELING CENTER & REGENT UNIVERSITY NHARCON 2018 8-11 MAY, 2018

OUTLINE Introduction Objectives Methodology Results Discussion References

INTRODUCTION HIV awareness, VCT and ART uptake are high in Ghana (Ghana AIDS Commission, 2014; Owusu-Ansah, Addae, Abdul-Rahman & Adjei, in press) HIV patients still to suffer stigma and other psychosocial problem which affect their quality of life (Abrefa-Gyan, Cornelius & Okundaye, 2016; Belo & Belo, 2013)

INTRODUCTION Quality of Life (QoL) refers to the degree of excellence in a person’s life at any given period that contributes to satisfaction and happiness of the person and benefits society. QoL is multifaceted, incorporating physical, material, psychological, social, and spiritual well-being

PAST STUDIES Findings on socio-demographic determinants of QoL mixed Some studies indicate that being female, unmarried, unemployed and older are significantly associated with poorer QoL (Abrefa-Gyan & Okundaye, 2015; Belo & Belo, 2013; Liping, Peng, Haijiang, Lahon & Fan, 2015; Tesfey et al., 2015) Other studies have also found contrary evidence, especially with respect to gender, age (Osei- Yeboah et al, 2017)

OBJECTIVES To assess the quality of life people living with HIV/AIDS in Accra To identify factors associated with better quality of life for people living with HIV/AIDS

METHODOLOGY Design= Cross sectional Study Participants 100 people living with HIV and 75 healthy control PLHIV from two support/self-help groups Sampling Technique- Purposive and convenience Measures/Instruments Questionnaire (WHOQOL-BREF) questionnaire

METHODOLOGY Letter of introduction taken from institution to participating organizations Groups met at their meeting days at different times Researchers introduced to participants by leader Purpose of study explained and informed consent of participants sought Questionnaires distributed and instructions explained Participants fill questionnaires Participants needing help are assisted

Results Table 1: Socio-demographic Information of Participants Variable Frequency (Percentage) M SD HIV Status Yes No 36.21 10.47 100 (57.1%) 75(42.9%) Age 18- 30 31- 65 60 (34.3%) 115 (65.7%) Gender Male Female 74(42.3%) 101(57.7%) Marital Status Not Married Married 110(62.9%) 65(37.1%) Employment Status Employed Unemployed 91(52.0%) 84(48.0%) Highest Education None primary JHS SHS Tertiary 27(15.4.0%) 21(12.0%) 28(16.0%) 71(40.6%) 28(16.0)

RESULTS Table 2: Overall Quality of Life Quality of Life X2 p Very Poor Poor Neither Poor/Good Good Very Good 62.54 <0.001 PLHIV 18 38 16 20 8 Control 0 1 16 52 6

RESULTS Table 3: Descriptive Statistics and Independent t-test for Quality of Life Domains Outcome Group 95% CI for PLHIV Controls Mean M SD n M SD n Difference t df p Physical 59.04 21.01 100 73.85 10.05 100 -14.81 -5.64 173 <0.001 Env’t 53.29 20.94 100 73.43 11.70 100 -20.14 -7.50 173 <0.001 Social 33.64 25.40 100 61.11 18.50 100 -27.47 -7.91 173 <0.001 Psych 48.81 24.20 100 71.34 13.46 100 -22.56 -7.27 173 <0.001 Psych= Psychological Env’t = Environmental

RESULTS Table 4: Gender Differences for Quality of Life Domains for PLHIV Env’t Outcome Group 95% CI for Male Female Mean M SD n M SD n Difference t df p Physical 68.42 19.41 40 52.79 19.79 60 15.63 3.90 98 <0.001 Psych 62.80 20.15 40 46.94 19.11 60 15.86 3.98 98 <0.001 Social 48.26 28.24 40 23.73 17.50 60 24.53 5.34 98 <0.001 Env’t 59.78 24.02 40 41.51 21.58 60 18.27 3.96 98 <0.001 Psych= Psychological Env’t = Environmental

RESULTS Table 5: Differences for Quality of Life Domains for PLHIV Env’t Outcome Group 95% CI for Not Married Married Mean M SD n M SD n Difference t df p Physical 54.33 20.47 75 73.19 15.83 25 -18.86 -4.20 98 <0.001 Psych 48.39 19.89 75 67.97 17.03 25 -19.58 -4.41 98 <0.001 Social 48.26 18.73 75 60.39 25.18 25 -35.30 -7.37 98 <0.001 Env’t 42.99 23.12 75 66.30 18.51 25 -23.31 -4.57 98 <0.001 Psych= Psychological Env’t = Environmental

Table 6: One – Way ANOVA of Educational Background and the Domains of QoL of PLHIV.   Source of Variance  MS  df  F  p  Physical   Between 944.27 4 2.25 .070 Within 420.01 Psych 935.59 2.24 .051 417.74 Social 3544.89 6.78 <.001 522.66 Env’t 181.32 3.40 .012 533.77

RESULTS Table:7 Multiple Comparison for Level of Education on Social Domain Mean Group (J) Level of Education 2 3 4 5 1. None -10.46 -3.58 -13.78 -50.93*** Mean Group (I) 2. Primary 6.88 -3.32 -40.47** 3. JHS -10.20 -47.35*** 4. SHS -37.15** 5. Tertiary **p<0.01, *** p< 0.001

Discussion Summary: Study sought to determine the quality of life of PLHIV and identify factors associated with better quality of life for PLHIV Findings indicate that quality of life of PLHIV is poorer than healthy controls Being male, married and highly educated are associated with better QoL Being female, single and less educated are associated with poorer QoL Finding consistent with previous studies

DISCUSSION Limitations Recommendations: Small sample size Correlational study- Causality difficulty Recommendations: Increase team effort between various health providers and stakeholders to address psychosocial challenges

Conclusion The findings highlight the need for enhanced psychosocial support and better environment for improving the quality of life among PLHIV. This can be attained by offering comprehensive and integrated services to the PLHIV including providing employment, psychological services, primary medical care, financial self- sufficiency, housing, food, child care and social sensitization, particularly for women affected by the disease; as well as creating appropriate safety nets for patients.

REFERENCES Abrefa-Gyan, Cornelius & Okundaye (2016). Socio-Demographic Factors, Social Support, Quality of Life, and HIV/AIDS in Ghana. Journal of Evidence-Informed Social Work, 13:2, 206- 216, DOI: 10.1080/23761407.2015.1018033 Belo & Belo (2013). Quality of Life of Hiv/Aids Patients in a Secondary Health Care Facility, Ilorin, Nigeria. Baylor University Medical Center Proceedings, 26:2, 116-119, DOI: 10.1080/08998280.2013.11928933 Owusu-Ansah, Addae, Abdul-Rahman & Adjei, (in press). The Paradox of Knowing and Doing: HIV Awareness and Sexual Behaviours among KNUST Students. African Journal of AIDS Research Osei-Yeboah et al. (2017). Quality of Life of People Living with HIV/AIDS in the Ho Municipality, Ghana: A Cross-Sectional Study. AIDS Research and Treatment 2017, Article ID 6806951, 7 pages https://doi.org/10.1155/2017/6806951

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