De Boer J, Van Dam F, Cleijne W, Frissen J, Weigel H, Mulder JW, Lange J, Meenhorst P; International Conference on AIDS.

Int Conf AIDS. 1992 Jul 19-24; 8: B177 (abstract no. PoB 3545).

WHO Collaborating Center on Quality of Life, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

OBJECTIVE: to examine the impact of treatment with dideoxyinosine (ddI) on the quality of life of patients with AIDS who are intolerant to zidovudine. METHODS: Patients were recruited from 3 Amsterdam hospitals. Quality of life was assessed by means of the EORTC-QLQ-C30 and an AIDS specific questionnaire. These questionnaires assess physical functioning, AIDS and treatment-related symptoms, psychological and social functioning, and overall quality of life. The questionnaires were administered prior to start of treatment and at 1, 3, 5 and 7 months after the start of treatment. Repeated measures analyses of variance (SPSS 4.0) were used to assess changes over time in quality of life. RESULTS: Sixty-one subjects (58 male/3 female) participated in the quality of life study. The mean duration of zidovudine use prior to study entry was 18 months. During the quality of life study 15 respondents died, 4 respondents refused further cooperation, and 4 patients were too ill to answer questions. Therefore, 38 patients were evaluable in the analyses. Of these 38 patients, 20 patients had used ddI during the entire study period. Time effects were found for: 1) neuropathic symptoms (F (4,132) = 3.17, p less than .016), which increased over time; 2) physical functioning F (4,136) = 5.92, p less than .000), which deteriorated over time; and 3) the number of serious physical symptoms (F (4,136) = 7.18, p less than .000), which, following an initial improvement, increased after month 3. Patients reported a high number of serious physical complaints (6-9) during the study period. Major complaints at baseline and follow-up were in the area of fatigue and physical functioning. CONCLUSIONS: During the study 25% percent of the subjects died and only half of our sample could tolerate ddI during the entire study period. The physical condition of our subjects deteriorated over time. Surprisingly, psychosocial functioning and overall quality of life did not change over time. Quality of life research can provide patients with information about the effects of treatments on their quality of life, thus enabling them to anticipate side effects and practical problems caused by treatment. Therefore, we advocate inclusion of quality of life measures in clinical research with HIV-infected patients.

Publication Types:

• Meeting Abstracts

Keywords:

• Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome
• Didanosine
• Drug Therapy, Combination
• Female
• HIV Seropositivity
• Humans
• Life
• Male
• Palliative Care
• Quality of Life
• Questionnaires
• Time
• Zidovudine
• drug therapy
• therapy

Other ID:

• 92401274

UI: 102198987

From Meeting Abstracts