Impact of illness perception in the quality of life of Brazilians living with HIV/AIDS

Abstract

Background: The objective of this study is to verify predictors of the quality of life (QOL) of Brazilian people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA). The self-regulatory model guides this study, thus the influence of Illness Perception on QOL is mediated by coping strategies, but also social support and self-efficacy. Methods: Cross sectional design, quantitative study. 128 PLWHA responded to an online questionnaire, composed of the following instruments: Brief Illness Perception Questionnaire (BIPQ), Brief Cope (evaluating 14 coping strategies), Social Support Questionnaire 6 (SSQ6), General Self-Efficacy Scale (GSES), WHOQOL-HIV Bref. Correlational and Partial Least Square (PLS) methods of analysis were used. Findings: The results highlight the negative direct influence of the illness perception in QOL (ß=-.78; p<.01). However, some variables can mitigate this effect. The increased use of acceptance (ß=.20; p<.05), distraction (ß=.18; p<.01) and instrumental support (ß=.23; p<.05) coping strategies and less use of behavioral disengagement (ß=-.18; p<.05) and positive reinterpretation (ß=-.24; p<.01) are predictors of QOL, diminishing the effect of the illness perception (ß=-.55; p<.01). This mediation was confirmed by significant indirect effect (ß=-.22; p<.01). Discussion: Those were the only variables that predicted QOL in a more comprehensive model. It is possible that the effects that usually social support and self-efficacy have are due to other variables with which they correlate, such as distraction and positive reinterpretation in the case of self-efficacy and instrumental support in relation to the availability and satisfaction with social support. More studies in this area should be done to confirm these data.