Abstract:
Objective To explore the relationship between discrimination perception, pressure perception, mental health and quality of life among HIV/AIDS patients, and provide scientific evidence for improving the pressure perception, mental health and quality of life of HIV/AIDS patients.
Methods A convenience sampling method was used to select 588 HIV/AIDS patients treated with antiviral treatment. The patients were investigated using the general information questionnaire, AIDS Stigma Scale(SSS), Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale(GAD-7), Patient Health Questionnaire Depression Scale(PHQ-9), HIV/AIDS Stress Scale(CSS-HIV), UCLA Loneliness Scale Short Form(ULS-8) and WHOQOL-HIV-BREF. The descriptive statistics, correlation analysis and regression analysis were conducted on the collected data and information, and a structural equation model was constructed. The Bootstrap method was used to verify the mediating effect of mental health between perceived discrimination and quality of life.
Results The total score of discrimination perception of patients was (27.643 ± 6.506) points. The total score of pressure was (34.510 ± 10.457) points. In terms of mental health, the scores of anxiety, depression and loneliness were (20.935 ± 8.614) points, (11.832 ± 5.048) points and (19.216 ± 3.648) points, respectively. The total score of quality of life was (91.388 ± 8.331) points. The discrimination perception was positively correlated with the stress(r = 0.469, P < 0.01), anxiety (r = 0.323, P < 0.01), depression (r = 0.296, P < 0.01) and loneliness(r = 0.328, P < 0.01), and the quality of life was negatively correlated with the discrimination perception(r = −0.179, P < 0.01), stress(r = −0.145, P < 0.01), anxiety(r = −0.111, P < 0.01), depression(r = −0.124, P < 0.01) and loneliness (r = −0.308, P<0.01). The mediating effects of stress, anxiety, depression and loneliness between perceived discrimination and quality of life were 35.39%, 37.77%, 37.38% and 46.62%, respectively.
Conclusions The mental health and quality of life of HIV/AIDS patients undergoing antiviral treatment are generally low, and there is a relatively high level of perception of discrimination and stress. Stress, anxiety, depression and loneliness all play a partial mediating role between perceived discrimination and quality of life. Measures such as psychological intervention, social support and policy optimization need to be taken to improve patients' perception of stress, mental health and quality of life.