The Impact of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV

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Qualityof LifeResearch,5, pp. 275-280

The impact of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection on quality of life in a multiracial South African population E. A. O'Keete* and R. Wood Departmentof Medicine, Somerset Hospital,Universityof Cape Town,South Africa

We set out to document quality of life in South African HIV subjects, using the Medical Outcomes Survey (MOS) SF-36 instrument, and to determine whether this was affected by race, gender or clinical stage of disease. A cross-sectional survey of 134 HIVoutpatients (42 White, 49 Mixed race, 43 Black) and 114 healthy non-medical hospital personnel (36 White, 37 Mixed race, 42 Black) was carried out at a referral centre for HIV patients in the Western Cape region of South Africa. Scores on eight scales measuring different aspects of quality of life were calculated. Black female controls scored significantly lower on all scales (p400, 200-400 and