Acceptance of chronic disease in patients living with HIV infection: one centre's cross-sectional study

Abstract

Background: Despite effective treatment, the quality of life of patients infected with Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) can be diminished by factors both directly and indirectly related to the infection.Aim of the study: Determination of factors affecting the acceptance of HIV infection as a chronic disease in HIV-infected patients. Material and methods: A survey was conducted on 83 HIV-infected adults undergoing antiretroviral (ARV) treatment. The impact of social and medical factors on the acceptance of a chronic disease such as HIV infection was analyzed. Factors such as age, gender, education, route of HIV infection, living with family or a close person, professional activity, length of ARV therapy, history of an indicator disease, treatment breaks, markers of HBV infection, and current comorbidities requiring treatment, which may affect self-acceptance, were included in the analysis. Information about the patients was obtained from the Acceptance of Illness Scale (AIS) survey and medical records.Results: On average, in the AIS survey, patients scored 33.98 points, with a maximum of 40, which proves a very good acceptance of their infection. Among the many analyzed factors, only two variables showed statistical significance. Professionally active people accept their infection better, while lower acceptance was observed in patients who discontinued ARV therapy in the past.Conclusions: The analysis of the data from the study shows the need to consider many factors influencing the acceptance of HIV infection in HIV-infected patients. This will allow the introduction of programs to improve care for people with a chronic disease and thus improve their quality of life. The high assessment of acceptance of their disease was undoubtedly influenced by professional activity, the effectiveness of ARV treatment, and good access to ARV drugs.