[Home care of AIDS patients from the medical and nursing viewpoint--a project in Vienna].

Based on the longer survival time of HIV-infected patients the spectrum of HIV associated complications changed. The frequency of neurological diseases, as AIDS dementia complex, is increasing. Therefore there is more need for nursing of AIDS patients. Aim of the study was to evaluate the cost-effectiveness, the practicability and the influence of home care on the outcome of the patients. During a 1-year period 7 AIDS patients were treated by 4 nurses and 1 doctor in a home care setting. Three of these patients were immobile and needed nursing; the four other received their parenteral therapy at home. Nursing took 2 to 7 hours, the administration of parenteral therapy one and a half hour per day and patient. 226,520 Austrian Schillings were spent for the care of the 7 patients during 1 year. By minimizing the duration and the number of hospital stays the quality of life of the patient was improved. Home care did not influence the outcome of the patients negatively.