Monday, November 3, 2003

This presentation is part of : Quality of Life for Those with HIV

Do Health Care Relationships Affect the Quality of Life of Persons with HIV/AIDS?

Elizabeth H. Anderson, PhD, APRN, BC, School of Nursing, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, USA, Margaret Hull Spencer, MS, APRN, BC, Trinity Hill Health Care, Hartford, CT, USA, and Seja-Joyce Fishman, MS, APRN, BC, Community Care Center, Hartford Hospital, Hartford, CT, USA.
Learning Objective #1: Identify factors that predict quality of life in persons with HIV/AIDS
Learning Objective #2: Identify the role of health care relationships in quality of life for persons with HIV/AIDS

Objective: Persons with HIV/AIDS experience nausea/vomiting with prescribed medications. Ability to follow regimens and not have nausea/vomiting can impact quality of life. How relationships with health care workers influence quality of life in persons with HIV/AIDS is not known. Research question: Do health care relationships effect quality of life in persons with HIV/AIDS over and above self-efficacy and nausea/ vomiting? Design: Longitudinal correlational. Sample/setting: Convenience sample of 43 men and 27 women, mean age 43.1 (SD = 8.7), and CD4 count of 214.5 (SD = 231.9) were interviewed. Ethnic/racial backgrounds: Hispanic (43%), Black (41%), and Caucasian (16%). Majority had less than high school education (54.3%), yearly income < $10,000 (84.3%) and contracted HIV through unprotected sex (55.7%). Interviews were conducted at outpatient clinics and long-term care facility prior to beginning newly prescribed medications and at follow up appointments. Concept/Variables: Morrow Assessment of Nausea and Emesis, HIV Self-efficacy Scale, and Quality of Life instruments have well-established validity and reliability. Relationships with Health Care Providers, a newly developed scale based on two qualitative research studies, had acceptable validity and reliability. Methods: Stepwise Multiple Regression Analysis with Quality of Life as criterion variable and predictor variables of HIV Self Efficacy, Nausea/Vomiting, and Health Care Relationships were entered in that order. Findings: Self-efficacy, nausea/vomiting, and health care relationships accounted for 38% of the variance in quality of life [F(3, 68) = 13.3, p = 000]. Health care relationships accounted for 6% of the unique variance in quality of life over and above self-efficacy and nausea/vomiting. Conclusions: Self-efficacy, nausea/vomiting, and health care relationships influence quality of life in persons with HIV/AIDS with new medications. Health care relationships have a unique influence on quality of life. Implications: Nurses can influence quality of life of HIV patients through interpersonal relationships, facilitating self-efficacy, and assessing nausea/vomiting.

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