Tuberculosis and HIV co-infection: its impact on quality of life.

BACKGROUND: Very little is known about the quality of life of tuberculosis (TB) and HIV co-infected patients. In this study in Ethiopia, we compared the quality of life HIV positive patients with and without TB.

METHODS: A cross sectional study was conducted from February to April, 2009 in selected hospitals in Oromiya Regional state, Ethiopia. The study population consisted of 467 HIV patients and 124 TB/HIV co-infected patients. Data on quality of life was collected by trained nurses through face to face interviews using the short Amharic version of the World Health Organization Quality of Life Instrument for HIV clients (WHOQOL HIV). Depression was assessed using a validated version of the Kessler scale. Data was collected by trained nurses and analyzed using SPSS 15.0 statistical software.

RESULTS: TB/HIV co-infected patients had a lower quality of life in all domains as compared to HIV infected patients without active TB. Depression, having a source of income and family support were strongly associated with most of the Quality of life domains. In co-infected patients, individuals who had depression were 8.8 times more likely to have poor physical health as compared to individuals who had no depression, OR = 8.8(95%CI: 3.2, 23). Self-stigma was associated with a poor quality of life in the psychological domain.

CONCLUSION: The TB control program should design strategies to improve the quality of life of TB/HIV co-infected patients. Depression and self-stigma should be targeted for intervention to improve the quality of life of patients.