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Assessing quality of life in middle-aged and older adults with HIV: psychometric testing of the WHOQOL-HIV-Bref

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Abstract

Purpose

The aim of this study was to test the psychometric properties of the World Health Organization quality of life in HIV infection, abbreviated version (WHOQOL-HIV-Bref) in a sample of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected patients aged 50 years and older.

Methods

The sample consisted of 185 patients, recruited in the main departments of infectious diseases of 10 Portuguese hospitals. In addition to the WHOQOL-HIV-Bref, patients also completed the brief symptom inventory, a self-report questionnaire for measuring psychopathological symptoms.

Results

The European Portuguese version of WHOQOL-HIV-Bref showed acceptable reliability (Cronbach’s alpha range 0.65–0.86 across domains). Confirmatory factor analysis corroborated the original six-domain structure. Convergent validity with depressive and psychopathological symptoms was satisfactory for all domains. Overall quality of life (QoL), physical and independence domains discriminated well subjects considering the HIV stage. None of the domains were significantly different according to CD4+ T cell count subgroups.

Conclusions

These results offer promising support for the use of the WHOQOL-HIV-Bref as a measure of QoL among HIV-infected patients aged 50 years and older. Its briefness and multidimensionality allow a more practical and comprehensive assessment of QoL, both on clinical and research settings.

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Abbreviations

BSI:

Brief symptom inventory

CFA:

Confirmatory factor analysis

CFI:

Comparative fit index

HIV:

Human immunodeficiency virus

QoL:

Quality of life

RMSEA:

Root mean square error of approximation

WHO:

World Health Organization

WHOQOL-HIV-Bref:

World Health Organization quality of life in HIV infection, abbreviated version

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by Coordenação Nacional para a Infecção VIH/sida (Ref. 5-1.8.4/2007) and was developed within the research line “Relationships, Development and Health”, of the R&D Unit of the Institute of Cognitive Psychology, Vocational and Social Development of the University of Coimbra (PEst-OE/PSI/UI0192/2011). Marco Pereira is supported by a Post-doctoral Scholarship from the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (SFRH/BPD/44435/2008)

Conflict of interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest with their funding bodies.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculdade de Psicologia e Ciências da Educação, Universidade de Coimbra, Rua do Colégio Novo, Apartado 6153, 3001-802, Coimbra, Portugal

    Marco Pereira, Alexandra Martins, Stephanie Alves & Maria Cristina Canavarro

Authors
  1. Marco Pereira
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  2. Alexandra Martins
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  3. Stephanie Alves
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  4. Maria Cristina Canavarro
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Correspondence to Marco Pereira.

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Pereira, M., Martins, A., Alves, S. et al. Assessing quality of life in middle-aged and older adults with HIV: psychometric testing of the WHOQOL-HIV-Bref. Qual Life Res 23, 2473–2479 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11136-014-0707-7

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