Health Related Quality of Life of Children Infected with HIV in Agra Region, India

Objective and Methods: HIV specific health related quality of life (HRQOL) instrument based on PedQLTM4.0 generic scale was prepared and named HIV-QOL. It was validated and used to evaluate HRQOL in HIV infected children in an observational,crossectional study conducted in the Department of Pediatrics, Sarojini Naidu Medical College, Agra, India.

Results:Cronbach’s alpha score > 0.7,supported acceptable internal consistency of the instrument.The correlation coefficient of more than 0.8 indicated that the instrument was valid for application. Study included 40 HIV infected children between age 8 to 18 years.Their mean scores were calculated in all four domains (viz physical, social, emotional and school functioning) and comparison of HRQOL scores was done with respect to various social and demographic parameters. CD4 counts, clinical stage of the disease and living status of the parents and anti retroviral therapy (ART) had significant influence on the HRQOL scores.

Conclusion: HIV QOL is a valid instrument to assess the health related quality of life of HIV infected children in India. It can help in assessing their health status, as well as in evaluating the impact of various medical and social programmes aimed at improving their quality of life.