Health-Related Quality of Life in Young Adults With Perinatal HIV After Transfer to Adult Health Care in the Netherlands

Abstract

Introduction: Health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in adult people with HIV is lower than that of the general population. Previously, no differences were detected in HRQoL of Dutch children with perinatal HIV (PHIV) compared with norm groups. In this study, we compared HRQoL of PHIV young adults (PHIV-YA, aged 18-30 years) with 2 norm groups, the healthy Dutch YA population and YA with various chronic conditions.

Methods: Participants received questionnaires on HRQoL, adherence, and demographics. Additional social and health care-related variables were collected from patients' medical files. We explored correlations between HRQoL and demographic characteristics. Effect sizes (ES, Hedge s 'g with confidence intervals) were calculated to quantify the difference between PHIV-YA and norm groups.

Results: Of 81 participants, 53 filled out the questionnaires. Compared with the healthy Dutch YA population, PHIV-YA aged 18-30 years had significantly lower HRQoL scores in the school/work subscale. PHIV-YA aged 26-30 years had significantly lower total, physical and psychosocial HRQoL scores as well. Participants in the older age category had lower HRQoL scores throughout all subcategories as compared with the younger age group. For PHIV-YA aged 18-25 years, lower scores on the school/work subscale were correlated with substance use and being born outside the Netherlands.

Conclusions: PHIV-YA had low HRQoL scores in school/work functioning compared with the healthy Dutch YA population. The circumstances driving these outcomes are likely to be multidimensional, including HIV infection, social background, and challenges in growing up with a chronic condition.