Abstract:
Background: Health-related quality of life is a broad concept reflecting a patient’s general
subjective perception of the impact of the disease and treatment on quality of life. Human
immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-positive patients struggle with numerous social problems;
they are vulnerable to repeated opportunistic infections that withdraw them from regular
work, which further leads to economic problems and reducing their overall quality of life.
Objective: The aimed of this study was to assess Health related Quality of Life and
associated factors among people living with Human Immunodeficiency Virus on follow up at
Public Health facilities in Ambo Town, West Showa, Ethiopia, 2023.
Methods: An institution based cross-sectional study was conducted among 421 adult HIV
patients selected by Simple random sampling technique from March/1- 30/ 2023. Data were
collected through face to face interview and chart review by using a pre tested and structured
questionnaire from Ambo town public health facilities. Data were coded, modified, and
entered into Epi-data version 4.6 before being exported to SPSS version 25 for analysis.
Text, tables, and figures were used to display descriptive and analytical statistics. The binary
logistic regression model was used to fit the data.
Result: From the total respondents, 201 (48.9%) of them have poor health related quality of
life. The age between 30-39 years, (AOR = 1.792; 95 % CI: (1.019-3.15). A driver
occupation, (AOR = 2.13; 95 % CI:1.026-4.421), baseline CD4 Cell greater than 350 (AOR
= 0.53; 95 % CI: 0.33-0.85), greater than 54 months of Duration on HAART (AOR = 2.698;
95 % CI: (1.26-5.79), baseline weight greater than 48.5kg (AOR= 0.152; 95 % CI: (0.086-
0.269), use tobacco (AOR =2.59; 95 % CI: (1.02-6.59) were identified as the predictors of
health related quality of life among HIV patients.
Conclusion and Recommendation: This study found that almost half of HIV-positive
people on follow up in Ambo town public health institutions had poor overall Health Related
Quality of Life. Age between 30-39 years, driver occupation, tobacco users, and more than
54 months on HAART all reduced quality of life, although baseline CD4 Cell count greater
than 350 and baseline weight greater than 48.5kg enhanced quality of life. As a result, health
care practitioners should emphasize the 30-39 age range, driver occupation, HAART
duration, and cigarette users whose quality of life is negatively impacted.
