Impact of disease perception: coping strategy, quality of life of people living with HIV

Abstract

Background: The aim of this study was to understand how people living with HIV perceive their disease and how this perception impacts their coping strategy and quality of life. Methods: Sixty-five people living with HIV answered three questionnaires: BIPQ (Brief-Illness Perception Questionnaire), Brief Cope, WHOQOL-Bref. Their responses were compared with those obtained from fifty-one persons didn't have HIV. Results: The most important outcomes showed that people living with HIV had lower quality of life than those people without HIV. We found that a significant correlation exists between the total score of disease perception and coping strategy like substance use and disengagement. We found that the disease perception affects negatively all fields of quality of life of these people. Conclusions: These outcomes prove how important it is to create the actions that change disease perception and adjust the coping strategy in order to better manage HIV.