Social Support in HIV-Positive Individuals
Author Information
Author(s): Nath Debashis Wig, Naveet Mishra, Nitin Nagpal, Sajan Jiv Singh Vajpayee, Madhu Pal, Hemraj Pandav
Primary Institution: All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India
Hypothesis
Higher levels of social support improve the quality of life for HIV-positive individuals.
Conclusion
The study found that belief support was the highest among the dimensions of social support for HIV-positive individuals.
Supporting Evidence
- Adult prevalence of HIV in India is 0.36%, amounting to approximately 2.5 million people living with HIV.
- A higher level of social support improves mental health and quality of life.
- 72.2% of the Indian population lives in rural areas, where joint families are more common.
Takeaway
This study looked at how much support people with HIV get from others, and found that believing in God and doctors helps them feel better.
Methodology
The study assessed social support using Dube’s scale, which includes four dimensions: social network, financial support, emotional support, and belief support.
Potential Biases
The influence of stigma attached to the disease may affect the social support received.
Limitations
The belief support score only assessed patients’ own faith and beliefs, while other scores depended on contributions from family and friends.
Participant Demographics
80% of the participants were males, all were older than 18 years.
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
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