People Living with HIV/AIDS in the City of Bangkok: Quality of Life and Related Factors
Chokchai Munsawaengsub MD*, Basamat Berair Ebella Mohammed Khair MPH**, Sutham Nanthamongkolchai PhD*
Affiliation : * Department of Family Health, Faculty of Public Health, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand ** HIV-Surveillance Section, Ministry of Health, Khartoum State, Sudan
Objective : To assess the quality of life and factors related to quality of life among people living with HIV/AIDS in Bangkok,
Thailand.
Material and Method: A cross-sectional survey research was conducted among 138 people aged over 18 years living with
HIV/AIDS in Bangkok. The sample was selected by purposive sampling from HIV infected persons who attended the HIV
clinic at the hospitals in Bangkok. Data were collected by self-administered questionnaires from June to July 2010 and
analyzed by frequency, percentage, mean, standard deviation, Chi-square test and Pearson Product Moment Correlation
Coefficient.
Results : The finding revealed that of the people living with HIV/AIDS, 67.4% reported a moderate level with respect to quality
of life and 32.6% reported a good level concerning the quality of life. Factors related to quality of life were age, education level,
monthly income, self-esteem, family relationships and social support (p < 0.05).
Conclusion : All of the people living with HIV/AIDS reported having a moderate to good quality of life. From research results,
responsible organizations should establish activities to promote self-esteem, family relationships and social support for
people living with HIV/AIDS to enhance the quality of life of infected persons. Increasing public awareness to better understand
basic needs such as family relationships and social support and providing HIV/AIDS education to the community were
deemed important.
Keywords : Quality of life, People living with HIV/AIDS, Self-esteem, Family relationships, Social support, City of Bangkok
