O-42 Predictors of psychological health-related quality of life in persons living with the Human Immunodeficiency Virus in Jamaica

Methods: A questionnaire examining sociodemographics and QOL using the ‘World Health Organization QOL HIV BREF’ tool was interviewer-administered to 358 randomly selected PLHIV from three different HIV treatment sites in KSA. The QOL tool consisted of 29 questions divided into six domains (including a psychological health domain). Adherence to antiretroviral therapy (ART) was measured using the Adherence to Refills and Medication Scale. Descriptive statistics assessed participants’ profiles and QOL scores by domain. Higher QOL scores indicated better QOL. Mann-Whitney U and Kruskal Wallis tests determined the differences in mean rank score for each QOL domain by select variables. A multiple linear regression model identified independent predictors of each QOL domain (this manuscript focuses on the psychological health-related QOL domain). Psychometric properties of the QOL domains were analyzed.

Results: Participants (56% female; mean age 49.2 +/- 13.7 years) scored highest in the spirituality domain (median 19.0 +/- 4.0), followed by the physical (18.0 +/- 3.0), level of independence (17.0 +/- 2.0), psychological (16.8 +/- 3.6), social relationships (16.0 +/- 3.0) and environmental (15.5 +/- 3.5) domain. Older persons (p= 0.005), those employed (p= 0.006), non-smokers (p= 0.003), persons without comorbidities (p= 0.018), and persons with good ART adherence (p< 0.001) had better psychological health-related QOL. Cronbach’s alpha for each domain ranged from 0.81-0.85.

Conclusion: Increased focus must be placed on improving the psychological health of PLHIV. This may be achieved through targeted psychosocial interventions towards younger persons, skills training and formal educational opportunities to increase employability and income, reducing drug use, optimally managing comorbidities, and improving ART adherence.