Ichikawa M, Natpratan C
Department of Community Health, Graduate School of Medicine, University of Tokyo, Japan.
AIDS Care. 2006 Feb;18(2):128-32. doi: 10.1080/09540120500159441.
Efforts have been made to improve the social environment of people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) in Thailand but have not been assessed in terms of their quality of life (QOL). In this study, we preliminarily examined the relationship between PLWHA's perception of social environment and QOL. The participants of this study were 200 PLWHA who belonged to the self-help groups in Chiang Mai province, northern Thailand. We collected data in face-to-face interviews using a structured questionnaire. The QOL was measured using a Thai version of the Medical Outcomes Study HIV Health Survey. Those who perceived themselves as well accepted by the community, perceived health services accessible or someone's help available, tended to have better QOL in terms of mental health. Community acceptance was most significantly related to QOL. Stratified analyses revealed similar relationships between perceived social environment and QOL among symptomatic and non-symptomatic participants but the relationships appeared weaker among men than women. In sum, our preliminary findings suggest that supportive social environment, especially community acceptance, is important for mental aspects of PLWHA's QOL irrespective of the disease stages and for women who usually take on multiple roles in the Thai traditional family.
泰国已努力改善艾滋病毒/艾滋病感染者（PLWHA）的社会环境，但尚未对这些努力对其生活质量（QOL）的影响进行评估。在本研究中，我们初步考察了PLWHA对社会环境的认知与生活质量之间的关系。本研究的参与者为200名属于泰国北部清迈省自助团体的PLWHA。我们使用结构化问卷通过面对面访谈收集数据。生活质量采用泰语版的医疗结果研究艾滋病毒健康调查进行测量。那些认为自己被社区很好接纳、认为可获得医疗服务或能得到他人帮助的人，在心理健康方面往往具有更好的生活质量。社区接纳与生活质量的相关性最为显著。分层分析显示，有症状和无症状参与者对社会环境的认知与生活质量之间存在相似的关系，但男性中的这种关系似乎比女性中的更弱。总之，我们的初步研究结果表明，支持性的社会环境，尤其是社区接纳，对PLWHA生活质量的心理方面很重要，无论疾病处于何种阶段，对于在泰国传统家庭中通常承担多种角色的女性而言亦是如此。
