Skip to main content
. 2017 Dec 21;8(2):348–368. doi: 10.4338/ACI-2016-10-R-0175

Table 1.

Characteristics of included studies

Study Country Study Type Participants ( # in QoL analyses) Duration Outcomes in order of reporting Results of Quality of Life (QoL) assessment
Gustafson, 1994 United States Multi-site RCTs + 204 HIV infected people(I) * 107 (C) # 97 QoL: (I) 30 (C) 29 3-6 months

  1. system usage

  2. health status and QoL

  3. risk behaviors

  4. health services utilization including cost

 After the first 2 months of installation, intervention group participants scored significantly higher on five of eight dimensions (social support, cognitive functioning, active life, active participating in health care, and emotions), and lower on none.
Huang, 2013 China Multi-site RCTs Arm 1.103 ART-naive: (I) 52 (C) 51 3 months

  1. ART ^ adherence

  2. QoL

  1. Significant improvements in physical well-being, level of independence, environment, and spiritual/religion/personal beliefs among treatment-naive patients

  2. No significant differences in change among the treatment-experienced patients
Arm 2.93 ART-experienced: (I) 46 (C) 47
Leon, 2011 Spain Single-site RCTs 83 chronic HIV patients: (I) 42 (C) 41 2 years

  1. technical satisfaction,

  2. CD4 count, T lymphocytes

  3. ART compliance

  4. QoL

  5. psychological and emotional status

 No significant difference
Mbuagbaw, 2012 Cameroon Single-site RCTs 200 HIV-positive adults on ART: (I) 101 (C) 99 6 months

  1. ART adherence

  2. weight, BMI, opportunistic infections

  3. CD4 count, viral load

  4. QoL

  5. cause mortality

  6. retention

 No significant difference
Millard, 2015 Australia

  1. Pilot 1: Single-arm Pilot feasibility study

  2. Pilot 2: RCTs

 HIV-positive gay men:

  • 10 in Pilot 1

  • 35 in Pilot 2 ([I] 17 [C] 18)

 7 weeks

  1. QoL

  2. health education and self-management skills

  3. HIV-specific self-efficacy

  4. depression, anxiety, social support, self-efficacy and domain-specific adjustment

  1. Pilot 1: Significant improvements of physical health and symptoms and body change

  2. Pilot 2: Significant improvements of physical health and symptoms; body change; social relationships; intimate relationships; stigma; emotional distress; and health concerns by intervention group
Proeschold-Bell, 2010 United States Multi-site RCTs 254 HIV-positive individuals (the ratio of cases to controls was 2 to 1 or 1 to 1, but the actual number was not described) 2 years

  1. viral load, CD4 count, and ART prescriptions

  2. hospitalizations, emergency department use, and QoL

 No significant difference
Pyne, 2011 United States Multi-site RCTs 276 HIV-infected patients with depression (I) 138 (C) 138 1 year

  1. depression severity

  2. QoL, health status, HIV symptom severity, ART adherence, and anti-depression regimen adherence

 No significant difference
Robbins, 2013 United States Multi-site RCTs 333 HIV-positive individuals starting ART (I) 166 (C) 167 160 weeks

  1. ART adherence

  2. QoL

  3. symptoms distress

 No significant difference
Wang, 2010 China Multi-site RCTs 116 HIV-infected heroin users (I) 58 (C) 58 8 months

  1. ART adherence

  2. QoL

  1. Intervention:Significant increase in physical (15.3%), psychological (18.4%), social (18.5%) and environmental (25.6%)

  2. Control: Slight increase in social (1.6%) and environmental (1.8%)
Wu, 2006 United States Single-site RCTs 62 ART-naive: (I) 31 (C) 31 6 months

  1. ART adherence

  2. neurocognitive functioning

  3. laboratory values

  4. QoL

  1. Intervention:Decrease in QoL score

  2. Control Group: Increase in QoL score for CES-D $ , IADLs − , physical health, general health, pain, QoL, and role functioning

+ Randomized Controlled Trials

* Intervention Group

# Control Group

^ Antiretroviral therapy

$ Centers for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale

− Instrumental Activities of Daily Living