Self-care intervention guidelines on improving knowledge on self-care

Abstract

the of intervention and identify the relationships of scores of on self-care Abstract Background: India has the third largest number of people living with HIV/AIDS and the majority of them (88.55%) are in the age group of 15-49 years. The nature of chronicity poses greater demands on PLHIV for comprehensive self- care in order to adopt positive living. The aim of this study was to develop and assess the effectiveness of Self- Care Intervention Guidelines (SCIG) on improving the knowledge on self-care and their Quality of Life (QOL). Methods: Systematic random sampling technique was used to select the subjects. Adult PLHIV in any clinical stage, on Antiretroviral Therapy (ART) and above 18 years were included in the study. An experimental research design was adopted with a questionnaire to assess the knowledge on self- care and WHO Quality of Life- BREF scale to measure QOL. A total of 150 PLHIV were recruited with 75 in the control group and 75 in the experimental group using the permuted block randomization. Data collection was done at three time points at the ART clinic. Results: The mean age of subjects in both the groups was almost similar (control-40.86 ± 8.74, experimental-39.34 ± 7.38) which reflects that PLHIV are in their productive age group. The mean score difference in knowledge on self- care and QOL between experimental and control group subjects was found to be statistically significant at p<0.001. Conclusion: Based on the findings, the study concluded that the SCIG is an essential and effective intervention in improving the knowledge on self-care and QOL of PLHIV.