Using a Patient Reported Outcome Measure to assess Quality of Life at Western Sydney Sexual Health Centre

Emma Mason; David Lewis; Iryna Zablotska-Manos; Louise Tomlins

Just Accepted

This article has been peer reviewed and accepted for publication. It is in production and has not been edited, so may differ from the final published form.

Using a Patient Reported Outcome Measure to assess Quality of Life at Western Sydney Sexual Health Centre

Emma Mason , David Lewis, Iryna Zablotska-Manos, Louise Tomlins

Abstract

Background: Attaining a good quality of life (QOL) is a priority for people living with HIV (PLHIV). We explored QOL and the associated demographic, behavioural and clinical factors for PLHIV attending in an outer-metropolitan clinical setting in Western Sydney. The clinic’s cohort of PLHIV is characterised by relatively high proportions of women, heterosexual men and patients from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) communities. Methods: We assessed QOL using the PozQol tool specifically designed for PLHIV. QOL scores and de-identified socio-demographic and clinical data were extracted from the electronic and paper medical records of PLHIV who completed a PozQol tool (September 2020 to March 2022). We performed descriptive analyses and logistic regression to identify associations. Results: Among 188 included patients, 146 (77.7%) were men, 40 women (21.3%) and two transwomen (1.1%); 126 (67.0%) were overseas-born and 160 (85.1%) spoke English; 157 (84.4%) were Medicare-eligible, 152 (85.9%) were employed; 110 (58.5%) were diagnosed with HIV 6-20 years ago and 62 (33.0%) within the past five years. Overall, 109 (58.0%) had a high or very high QOL. A low score in any domain was associated with Medicare-ineligibility and having viral loads >20 copies/mL. Low scores in specific domains were associated with the following factors: health domain – being born overseas or having partners of both sexes; psychological domain – being unemployed, having a viral load >20 copies/mL or having mental health conditions ever diagnosed; social domain – being unemployed; functional domain – Medicare-ineligibility, unemployed or having viral load >20 copies/mL. Conclusions: Use of the PozQol tool has enhanced understanding of factors impacting on QOL for PLHIV attending our service in Western Sydney. Identifying patients with low QOL scores allows targeted clinical interventions to improve QOL, and re-alignment of clinical services to better support PLHIV.

SH24040 Accepted 02 July 2024