Social support and quality of life of people with HIV/AIDS in Xuzhou city and its relationship analysis

ZHOU Zhiwei; SUN Chuangwu; CHAI Feifei; ZHANG Ying; ZHOU Hui; WANG Chengzhong; ZHANG Yaodong

doi:10.3969/j.issn.1002-266X.2025.02.008

Abstract：Objective To investigate the social support and quality of life of human immunodeficiency virus(HIV)-infected individuals/acquired immune deficiency syndrome(AIDS)patients in Xuzhou,and to explore their relationship,providing a basis for the development of scientific AIDS intervention measures.Methods We selected 605 newly report-ed HIV/AIDS cases from the China Disease Prevention and Control Information System in Xuzhou as study subjects.A self-designed questionnaire was used to collect clinical data including gender,ethnicity,marital status,education level,occu-pation,annual family income,disease stage,and infection route,etc.The Social Support Rating Scale was employed to as-sess social support,and the WHO Quality of Life-BREF was utilized to evaluate quality of life.We compared social support and quality of life across different clinical groups,analyzed differences with national norms,and conducted multiple step-wise linear regression analysis to examine the relationship between social support and quality of life.Results Among the 605 subjects,the majority were male,Han ethnicity,with high school education or above,unmarried,primarily earning wages as their main source of income,with annual family incomes≥30,000 yuan,of middle to lower socioeconomic sta-tus,and possessing medical insurance.Occupations were predominantly in the commercial service sector,and samples mainly came from testing consultation and medical institutions,with homosexual transmission being the primary route.Most were in the HIV infection stage,had CD4⁺ T cell counts>350/µL,showed no AIDS-related symptoms,were knowl-edgeable about AIDS,and considered themselves happy.In terms of social support,females scored higher in objective support,subjective support,and total social support than males.Subjects aged≥40 had higher objective support,subjec-tive support and social support scores than those aged 18-40,although the latter had higher support utilization.Married in-dividuals had higher objective support,subjective support and social support scores than unmarried individuals.Employ-ees of enterprises and public institutions had higher subjective support,support utilization and social support scores than those of other professionals.In terms of objective support and support utilization,those with higher income were higher than those with lower income.The social support scores of non-wage income group was higher than that of wage income group.Those with medical insurance scored higher across objective support,subjective support and social support than those without insurance.Higher socioeconomic status had higher subjective support,support utilization and total social support scores than lower status.Individuals with higher life satisfaction scored significantly higher in all dimensions and total social support than the other groups(all P<0.05).Quality of life scores in the physical,psychological,indepen-dence,and social relationships domains were lower than those of the national norms,whereas scores in the environment and personal belief domains were higher(all P<0.05).Males scored higher than females in psychological,independence,environment domains,and total quality of life.Individuals with high school education or above scored higher in physical,psychological,independence,social relationships,environment,and total quality of life domains than those with junior high school education or below.Employees of enterprises and public institutions and those of wage income group had high-er scores in all dimensions and total quality of life than those of other professionals and non-wage income group.Those with annual incomes≥30,000 yuan scored higher in all domains and total quality of life than low-income individuals.HIV-in-fected individuals scored higher in the physical domain and total quality of life than AIDS patients.Subjects with CD4⁺ T cell counts>350/µL scored higher in physical,social relationships,and total quality of life than those with CD4⁺ T cell counts≤350/µL.Individuals without AIDS symptoms,with higher socioeconomic status,higher life satisfaction,and knowledge of AIDS scored higher in all dimensions and total quality of life than those with symptoms,lower socioeconomic status,lower life satisfaction,and lack of AIDS knowledge,the mental field scores of patients with medical insurance were higher than those without medical insurance(all P<0.05).Multiple linear regression analysis indicated that support utili-zation was a significant factor influencing quality of life in the physical,psychological,independence,social relation-ships,environment,and spiritual domains.Subjective support was a significant factor influencing the psychological do-main of quality of life,and social support was a significant factor influencing the social relationships and environment do-mains of quality of life(all P<0.01).Conclusion HIV/AIDS patients in Xuzhou who are unmarried,have unstable oc-cupations,low income,low socioeconomic status,and low life satisfaction exhibit lower social support and quality of life;social support has a positive effect on the quality of life of HIV/AIDS patients.