Dermatology Quality of Life Impairments among Newly Diagnosed HIV-Infected Patients in the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital, Ilorin, Nigeria

The study sought to describe the quality-of-life impairments in newly diagnosed HIV-infected adult patients with cutaneous lesions. This was a hospital-based, cross-sectional, descriptive study of 160 newly diagnosed HIV-infected adult patients attending the HIV/AIDS clinic of University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital (UITH). Systemic random sampling technique was used in recruiting respondents for the study. The Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI) was used to gauge the quality-of-life impairments. The study showed high prevalence of cutaneous lesions in HIV-infected patients. Majority of the respondents (83.7%) scored more than 10 in DLQI score. This signifies that the skin lesions had large negative effects on their quality of life. The assessment of the impact of dermatoses on patients’ quality of life is important for clinical management. It is pertinent to detect patients at higher risk of experiencing worse quality of life in order to treat them holistically.
Source: Journal of the International Association of Physicians in AIDS Care (JIAPAC) - Category: Infectious Diseases Authors: Tags: HIV Clinical Management Source Type: research