The relationship between acceptance of illness and quality of life among men who have sex with men living with human immunodeficiency virus: A cross-sectional study.
Chang Gao, Xueling Xiao, Li Zhang and 3 others
PMID 35891907WHAT IT FOUND
Men who have sex with men living with HIV in a Chinese clinic reported only moderate acceptance of their illness.
Higher acceptance tracked with better quality of life, and lower education, seeing HIV as more threatening, and less controllable were linked to poorer acceptance.
Key findings
01Acceptance of illness was moderate overall, and total acceptance scores were positively correlated with total quality of life scores (r = 0.69, P < 0.01).
02In the adjusted analysis, men with middle school or technical secondary school education were reported as less likely to accept their HIV than men with a bachelor's degree or higher.
03Higher threat appraisals were associated with lower acceptance (OR = 1.09), while higher controllability appraisals were associated with better acceptance (OR = 0.82).
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
Because it was cross-sectional, it cannot show that acceptance causes better quality of life or that changing acceptance would improve quality of life. Participants came from one HIV clinic in Changsha, so results may not apply to men who have sex with men in other regions or those not in HIV care. All participants were under 60 years old, so the findings may not apply to older men living with HIV. Information was self-reported, and many participants did not know their viral load, which limits how clinical status was characterized.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflict of interest and reported nothing to declare for funding.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that helping patients accept HIV will improve quality of life. This study only measured an association at one point in time and did not test an acceptance intervention.