Mustefa Abdulmejid, Abute Lonsako, Lemnuro Kemal, Badgeba Abdulkerim, Bedru Delwana, Bubamo Bisrat Feleke, Beykaso Gizachew, Agide Feleke Doyore, Sadore Abinet Arega
Department of Public Health, College of Medicine and Health Science, Werabe University, Werabe, Ethiopia.
School of Public Health, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Wachemo University, Hossana, Ethiopia.
Front Reprod Health. 2025 Jul 28;7:1494390. doi: 10.3389/frph.2025.1494390. eCollection 2025.
The HIV/AIDS pandemic has had a profound impact on patients' lives on all fronts, as well as on society. Examining adult PLWHA experiences from various angles helps find gaps, develop plans, and put policies and coping mechanisms in place. Therefore, this study aimed to explore the lived experiences of adult patients receiving ART at Werabe Comprehensive Specialized Hospital in Ethiopia.
A qualitative approach with a phenomenological study design was used from March to June 2022 among 12 purposively selected adults on ART at the Worabe Comprehensive Specialized Hospital. Data were collected using semi-structured, open-ended questions. In-depth interviews were audiotaped, transcribed verbatim, and analyzed using qualitative data management software (ATLAS Ti version 7.1.4). The findings were summarized under five themes by applying inductive thematic analysis.
This study explored five themes that included (I) experiences at the time of diagnosis of their positive HIV Status with two sub-themes: inappropriate counseling and difficulty in accepting positive results; (II) disease management skills with three sub-themes: ART Initiation, Perceived health importance of ART; (III) Enacted stigma with two sub-themes: Stigma & Discrimination and Disclosure; (IV) Experiences towards gaining support with three sub-themes: Family care, Peer/social support from organizations and Hospital and Health professionals' care; and (V) perceptions towards health status and feelings about their status with three sub-themes of living as normal life, feeling about their HIV status and vision of purposeful life.
Creating educational initiatives and consistently educating the public about health issues can greatly increase public knowledge of HIV, alter perceptions of the virus, and influence how others behave when interacting with people with HIV/AIDS. This mental shift fosters social support and lessens the obstacles to the acceptance of infection by PLWHA.
艾滋病毒/艾滋病大流行在各个方面对患者的生活以及社会都产生了深远影响。从不同角度审视成年艾滋病病毒感染者的经历有助于发现差距、制定计划并落实政策和应对机制。因此，本研究旨在探索在埃塞俄比亚韦拉贝综合专科医院接受抗逆转录病毒治疗的成年患者的生活经历。
2022年3月至6月，在韦拉贝综合专科医院对12名经目的抽样选取的接受抗逆转录病毒治疗的成年患者采用现象学研究设计的定性方法。使用半结构化、开放式问题收集数据。深入访谈进行了录音，逐字转录，并使用定性数据管理软件（ATLAS Ti 7.1.4版本）进行分析。通过归纳主题分析将研究结果归纳为五个主题。
本研究探索了五个主题，包括：（I）确诊感染艾滋病毒时的经历，有两个子主题：咨询不当和难以接受阳性结果；（II）疾病管理技能，有三个子主题：开始抗逆转录病毒治疗、对抗逆转录病毒治疗健康重要性的认知；（III）遭受的耻辱，有两个子主题：耻辱与歧视以及披露病情；（IV）获得支持的经历，有三个子主题：家庭关怀、来自组织的同伴/社会支持以及医院和卫生专业人员的关怀；（V）对健康状况的认知以及对自身状况的感受，有三个子主题：正常生活、对自身艾滋病毒状况的感受以及有意义生活的愿景。
开展教育倡议并持续对公众进行健康问题教育能够大幅增加公众对艾滋病毒的了解，改变对该病毒的认知，并影响他人在与艾滋病毒/艾滋病患者互动时的行为方式。这种观念转变能够促进社会支持并减少艾滋病病毒感染者在被接纳方面面临的障碍。
