Psycho-social impact and quality of life of people living with HIV/AIDS in South India.

This study examines psycho-social impact of HIV and quality of life of 646 HIV-infected persons from a major government sexually transmitted disease (STD) clinic in South India. In this cross-sectional study, data was collected using interview schedule and scales. Nearly 70% had problems in parenting their children after acquiring the infection. Most (88%) of the respondents reported of seeking help from their family members, relatives or close friends at the time of their illness. Among the four categories of stigma, most of them (96%) reported perceived stigma whereas actual stigma was mentioned by only 33%. All four categories of stigma were experienced on a higher proportion by females than males (p<0.05). Each type of stigma was significantly associated with each domain of quality of life of the respondents (p<0.005). Respondents who reported of actual stigma (33%) had significantly good quality of life in their physical domain (49%), psychological domain (48%) and environmental domain (44%). Multivariate analysis showed that gender and marital status had significant association with quality of life. The findings of the study underscore the need for enabling environment through "human force" to uplift their social status and to have a better quality of life.

Knowledge and practice of clinical ethics among healthcare providers in a government hospital, Chennai.

The growing public concern about the ethical conduct of healthcare professionals highlights the need to incorporate clinical ethics in medical education. This study examined the knowledge and practice of clinical ethics among healthcare providers in a government hospital in Chennai. A sample of 51 treating physicians and 58 other non-physician service providers from the hospital answered a self-administered, semi-structured questionnaire on their knowledge of and adherence to ethical principles, and the problems they faced related to healthcare ethics. More than 30% did not give a definition of healthcare ethics, and 40% did not name a single ethical principle. 51% stated that they witnessed ethical problems in their settings and named patient dissatisfaction, gender bias by provider, and not maintaining confidentiality. The responses of healthcare providers to various ethical scenarios are reported.

Perception of HIV testing among attendees at an STD clinic in India.

This study reports perception of STD clinic attendees of Government General hospital, Chennai, India towards free HIV testing. All STD clinic attendees who were eligible for the study (511), from January to April 2001 formed the study subjects. In all, 362 (71%) subjects responded to the question on perception of risk in getting HIV/AIDS. Among them 36% perceived that they were at risk of getting infected with HIV. There was a significant difference (P=0.01) between the genders, as more males perceived risk of getting HIV than females and, with the increase in number of sexual partners in a lifetime there was an increasing trend (p<0.0001) in the perception of risk. There were 244 (55%) subjects willing for HIV testing. A significant difference between the genders (p<0.0001) was observed, as more females were willing to accept free HIV testing than males. When adjusting the effect of co-variates such as gender, age, marital status and perception of risk in getting HIV, persons having two or more sexual partners in their life time were four times more willing to be HIV tested than persons with one sexual partner (OR=4; p=0.001). The findings in this study will help optimize HIV testing in at risk patient populations in India.

Appropriateness and execution challenges of three formal size estimation methods for high-risk populations in India.

OBJECTIVES: To describe formal, external to programme methods for size estimation of high-risk populations and compare execution challenges and validity of results. DESIGN: A cross-sectional HIV risk behavioural and biological survey was implemented among 24, 10 and five female sex workers, high-risk men who have sex with men and injecting drug user survey groups, respectively. Size estimates were calculated using three formal methods: capture-recapture, the multiplier method and the reverse tracking method (RTM), a new method. METHODS: Estimates were compared with each other and programme data. RESULTS: In general, when appropriately executed, formal methods produced smaller estimates to programme data, although the RTM tended to be closer to programme estimates. CONCLUSIONS: Capture-recapture requires some knowledge of site location. It can be used as a community mobilization measure at the initiation of a programme. The multiplier method presumes the existence of high quality external data and requires care in selecting the appropriate multiplier. All size estimation methods require careful planning and a full understanding of population dynamics and limitations of data. Before selecting a size estimation method, one must be aware of the strengths, weaknesses and applicability of each method. Use of size estimation methods in large-scale programmes should be considered carefully with adequate importance given to planning and implementation.