An Assessment of Health Related Quality of Life of HIV Positive Patients in Warangal Region

Many of the people are infected with the pandemic disease HIV either knowingly or unknowingly. Those people are in a misconception that their lives are end if the disease has occurred and many are with stigma and feeling depressed as per the studies done. Our study aimed to assess their Health-related quality of life (HRQOL) and find the factors responsible for their reduced Quality of life (QOL) by taking the appropriate interventions. Our study was a prospective observational study, which was carried out in a government ART centre in Warangal region MGM for 6 months from April 2018 to September 2018. The outpatients were given with a structured questionnaire of WHOQOL-BREF and their quality was assessed. The questionnaire included physical, psychological, social and environmental domains. The QOL scores were assessed and there was a follow up of those patients in their next visit to the hospital after counselling them. 688 patients were included in pre counselling interaction and 668 patients were followed in post counselling session. There was a higher mean score for environmental domain (32.07) before counselling the patients and there was a higher psychological mean (65.56) score after counselling. There was a statistically significant difference between the domains and within the domains with a P-value of <0.0001. This study strongly suggests that there is a need for establishing the counselling centres in hospitals for the patients suffering with HIV. Finally, the role of a clinical pharmacist is a crucial step in the improvement of the patient’s psychological behaviour.