Quality of Life in Older Adults with HIV Disease

Abstract

Quality-of-life (QOL) measures have become valuable additions to traditional morbidity and mortality outcomes in evaluating the progression of disease or the efficacy of medical interventions. With significant increases in longevity and an expanding treatment repertoire, QOL issues for people with HIV/AIDS have become increasingly important. Furthermore, as people are living longer with HIV/AIDS and the population in general ages, the number of persons older than age 50 who have HIV/AIDS is increasing. As QOL issues become more important for people with HIV/AIDS and as the population with HIV/AIDS ages, several issues related to QOL among older people arise. These include conceptual issues related to QOL and aging, as well as methodological issues of QOL assessments among older persons. This article begins with a brief discussion of why QOL is important to measure, various measurement strategies, and QOL comparisons between HIV/AIDS populations and other chronic disease groups. This is followed by a discussion of conceptual and methodological issues in measuring QOL among older persons. Finally, the authors conclude with recommendations for future research.