Quality of life of persons with HIV disease

A nonexperimental, explanatory design was used to examine differences in quality of life according to HIV classification. Fifty-five adults, (17 HIV+, 10 ARC, and 28 AIDS) completed a Demographic Data Sheet (DDS), the Sickness Impact Profile (SIP; r =.93), the Symptom Distress Scale (SDS; r =.91), and the Pain Index (PI). A MANOVA revealed significant differences (lambda =.78; F (6, 100) =.285, p =.05) in quality of life according to HIV classification. The impact on quality of life was more severe for AIDS subjects than for the HIV+ subjects, with the greatest impact in the physical dimension (F (2, 52) =.425, p =.02). There were no differences found in quality of life between the ARC and the HIV+ or AIDS subjects.