RESUMO
Health-related quality of life (HRQoL) is a broad concept reflecting a patient's general subjective perception of the effect of an illness or intervention on physical, psychological and social aspects of their daily life. HRQoL among patients infected with HIV has become an important indicator of impact of disease and treatment outcomes. A cross-sectional survey was carried out at Chitungwiza Central Hospital, Zimbabwe, to assess HRQoL in patients with HIV/AIDS receiving antiretroviral therapy (ART), using two validated instruments. The HIV/AIDS-targeted quality of life (HAT-QoL) and EuroQoL Five-dimensions-Three-level (EQ-5D-3L) instruments were used to assess HRQoL. Internal consistency reliability and convergent validity of the two instruments were also evaluated. For construct validity, the relationships between HRQoL scores and socio-economic and HIV/AIDS-related characteristics were explored. The median scores for the HAT-QoL dimensions ranged from 33.3 (financial worries) to 100 (HIV mastery). A considerably low HAT-QoL dimension score of 50.0 was observed for sexual function. There were ceiling effects for all HAT-QoL dimension scores except for financial worries and disclosure worries. Floor effects were observed for financial worries and sexual function. The median of the EQ-5D-3L index and visual analogue scale (VAS) was 0.81 and 79.0, respectively. There were no floor or ceiling effects for both the EQ-5D-3L index and VAS. The overall scale Cronbach's alpha was 0.83 for HAT-Qol and 0.67 for EQ-5D-3L. HAT-QoL demonstrated good convergent validity with EQ-5D index (0.58) and VAS (0.40). A higher level of HRQoL was positively and significantly related to income, education and employment. The patients' self-reported HRQoL was generally satisfactory in all the HAT-QoL dimensions as well as the two components on the EQ-5D-3L instrument. The two instruments demonstrated good measurement properties in HIV/AIDS patients receiving ART and have potential for use, alongside biomarkers, in monitoring outcomes of interventions.
Assuntos
Síndrome da Imunodeficiência Adquirida , Terapia Antirretroviral de Alta Atividade , Infecções por HIV , Qualidade de Vida , Síndrome da Imunodeficiência Adquirida/diagnóstico , Síndrome da Imunodeficiência Adquirida/tratamento farmacológico , Síndrome da Imunodeficiência Adquirida/epidemiologia , Síndrome da Imunodeficiência Adquirida/psicologia , Adulto , Terapia Antirretroviral de Alta Atividade/métodos , Terapia Antirretroviral de Alta Atividade/psicologia , Ansiedade/diagnóstico , Estudos Transversais , Feminino , Infecções por HIV/diagnóstico , Infecções por HIV/tratamento farmacológico , Infecções por HIV/epidemiologia , Infecções por HIV/psicologia , Humanos , Masculino , Pessoa de Meia-Idade , Medição da Dor , Avaliação de Resultados da Assistência ao Paciente , Reprodutibilidade dos Testes , Projetos de Pesquisa , Inquéritos e Questionários , Atenção Terciária à Saúde/métodos , Atenção Terciária à Saúde/estatística & dados numéricos , Zimbábue/epidemiologiaRESUMO
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is an infectious disease that has become a global pandemic. COVID-19 is spreading in Africa, and Zimbabwe has not been spared. The cases in Zimbabwe are mainly from imported cases due to high volume of travellers from the COVID-19 hotspots. In Zimbabwe, local transmission is also anticipated due to inter- and intracity travelling. Frontline health workers are at risk of infection due to contact with infected people as they discharge their duties. In this setting, the risk to community pharmacists and pharmacy personnel is poorly understood and characterised. This paper looked at the risks of infection that are peculiar to community pharmacy personnel and suggested some recommendations to reduce the risk to COVID-19 infection.