A model describing quality of life (QoL) as a function of health conditions, education, marital status, coping and social support in symptomatic or asymptomatic HIV-infected patients was tested. The participants were 241 adults, aged 20 to 64, 161 men, 169 symptomatic, and 208 on antiretroviral treatment. The criterion variable QoL was represented by the psychosocial, physical, environmental and overall quality of life dimensions measured by the Brazilian version of the World Health Organization QoL Assessment. Hierarchical multiple regression analysis revealed that the emotional support, emotion-focused coping, problem-focused coping, and marital status were significant predictors explaining 59% (adjusted) of the variance in the psychosocial dimension. Emotional support and emotion-focused coping were significant predictors associated to the other QoL analyzed dimensions. Implications concerning professional interventions and factors that should contribute to the improvement of the psychological well-being and QoL of seropositive persons are discussed.
HIV/AIDS; coping; social support; quality of life; WHOQoL-100
