Racial Differences in HIV-related Quality of Life: Results from a Patient-Reported Outcomes Survey

Background: Eliminating racial and ethnic health disparities is a major goal of Healthy People 2010. Several studies have highlighted racial disparities in the diagnosis, access to care, and treatment of HIV-infected patients, however little is known about any racial differences in HIV quality of life. The AD(Adaptive)-HIV is a newly validated HIV quality of life assessment tool. The objective of this study was to examine the baseline survey data from AD-HIV and report on any racial differences in HIV quality of life along several domains.

Methods: Adult participants (n=400) with HIV/AIDS were enrolled through convenience sampling from outpatient infectious disease clinics at two major academic medical centers in Chicago, Illinois during 2006-2007. All of the study participants were administered an electronic patient-reported outcomes HIV quality of life (QoL) survey.

Results: The racial breakdown of the sample was 50% Black, 37% White, 3.2% Asian/Native Hawaiian/American Indian, 3.8% More than one race, and 6% Other with a mean CD4+=514 and HIV viral load=32,036. Using multivariate linear regression models, significant differences between Blacks and Whites were found on the QoL factors of Pain (p=0.023), Fatigue (p=0.002), and Body Image (p=0.001), controlling for socio-demographic characteristics and clinical condition.

Conclusions: The findings suggest racial differences in HIV-related quality of life in this sample. AD-HIV is an instrument that can be used in the clinical practice setting to uncover racial differences in HIV health-related quality of life that can facilitate improvements in patient care.