Table 1.

Characteristics of ART-treated and virally suppressed participants (ANRS-APSEC study, n=195)

	n	% or median (IQR)
Sociodemographic characteristics
Age (years)	195	53 [45–61]
Sex
Male	148	76%
Female	47a	24%
Full-time permanent work contract
Yes	75	38%
No	120	62%
Financial situation
Difficult	40	21%
Average	65	33%
Comfortable	50	26%
Very comfortable	40	21%
Educational level
No high-school diploma	75	39%
High-school or post-secondary diploma	120	61%
Having a partner or partners
Yes	154	79%
No	41	21%
Living with one's steady partner
Yes	85	44%
No	110b	56%
Having dependents
Yes	39	20%
No	156	80%
HIV status of one's steady partner
No steady partner	90	46%
Partner living with HIV	32	16%
Partner living without HIV	70	69%
Clinical characteristics
HIV diagnosis
Time since HIV diagnosis (years)	195	17 [11–25]
HIV diagnosis in 1996 or later	128	66%
HIV diagnosis before 1996	67	34%
Engagement in HIV care
Time between HIV diagnosis and first ART (years)	195	1 [0–4]
Time on current ART (years)	195	3 [2–5]
Time since the most recent detectable viral load (years)	195	7 [5–11]
CD4 nadir (cells/mm3)
<200	66	34%
≥200	122	63%
Comorbidities
1 comorbidity	63	32%
≥2 comorbidities	31	16%
Hepatitis C	22	11%
Lifetime experience of depression and evolution of morale in the previous 5 years
Unchanged/improved morale and never experienced depression	105	54%
Deteriorated morale and experienced depression	15	8%
Deteriorated morale but never experienced depression	6	3%
Unchanged/improved morale but had experienced depression	69	35%
Psychosocial characteristics and living with HIV
Sense of belonging to a community
People living with HIV	136	70%
LGBT	81	42%
Heterosexuals	51	26%
Drug users	10	5%
Self-description as a person living with (on a scale from 0 to 10)
Ashamed (0) to proud (10)	195	5 [5–8]
Not confident (0) to confident (10)	195	8 [5–10]
Sick (0) to in good health (10)	195	8 [6–10]
Excluded (0) to socially integrated (10)	195	9 [6–10]
Vulnerable (0) to strong (10)	195	8 [6–10]
Post-traumatic growth inventory scalec
Global score (range 21–84)	195	43 [34–55]
‘New possibilities’ sub-score (range 5–20)	195	10 [7–14]
‘Spiritual change’ sub-score (range 2–8)	195	3 [2–5]
‘Personal strength’ sub-score (range 4–16)	195	9 [7–12]
‘Relating to others’ sub-score (range 7–28)	195	13 [9–17]
‘Appreciation of life’ sub-score (range 3–12)	195	8 [6–9]
Self-identification as an activist in the fight against HIV
Yes, definitely	58	30%
Yes, rather	51	26%
Not really	57	29%
Not at all	29	15%
Moral support
Not having someone to talk to about personal issues related to HIV	60	31%
Having someone to talk to about personal issues related to HIV	112	57%
Not concerned with personal issues related to HIV	23	12%
Feeling greatly affected by
The risk of transmitting the virus to someone	94	48%
The cost for the collectivity (French general population)	94	48%
Having to use condoms during sex	89	46%
Mandatory daily medication	88	45%
Having to live with a secret	84	43%
The negative effect of HIV on sexual life	75	39%
HIV-related discrimination	72	37%
An uncertain future because of HIV	71	36%
A shorter life expectancy	63	32%
Difficulties to build a stable relationship	56	29%
Side effects of current ART	55	28%
Excessive fatigue	48	25%
Not living a normal life	47	24%
A negative effect of HIV on one's professional life	44	23%
Out-of-pocket expenses related to HIV	42	22%
Perception of overall health evolution since HIV acquisition
Deteriorated	34	17%
Unchanged or improved	161	83%
Ease of taking daily treatment
Difficult or very difficult	28	14%
Easy or very easy	167	86%
Discomfort related to side effects of ART
Slightly or not troublesome side effects or no side effects	120	62%
Quite troublesome	50	26%
Very troublesome	25	13%
Information about health and HIV
Health literacy
Health literacy score	195	2.8 [2.7–3.0]
Inadequate health literacy	8	4%
Problematic health literacy	155	80%
Sufficient health literacy	32	16%
Number of information sources about HIVd		3 [2–4]
Perceived information about HIV scientific breakthroughs from one's doctor
Not at all or not sufficiently informed	18	9%
Sufficiently or very well informed	177	91%
Perception of ART efficacy and HIV cure
Perception of ART efficacy
Belief in short-term efficacy of ART	6	3%
Belief in mid-term efficacy of ART	21	11%
Belief in long-term efficacy of ART	112	57%
Did not know	56	29%
Important to be cured of HIV
No	5	3%
Yes	190	97%
Perception of availability of HIV cure treatment
Believed that a HIV cure treatment would be available in lifetime	119	61%
Did not believe that a HIV cure treatment would be available in lifetime	25	13%
Did not know	51	26%
Had heard about HIV cure-related clinical trials
No	116	60%
Yes	79	41%
Previous clinical trial experience
Negative experience	5	3%
Positive experience	78	40%
No experience	106	54%
Willingness to participate in HIV-cure related clinical trialse
Yes, definitely	83	43%
Yes, perhaps	74	38%
Not really	21	11%
Not at all	17	9%

^aIncludes one transgender person.

^b20 of whom had a steady partner but did not live with him/her. In total, 105 (54%) declared having a steady partner.

^cFollowing HIV diagnosis.

^dEach of following information sources counts for one point: the HIV medical staff, attending physician, media (reading, TV, radio, internet, social networks), scientific articles or journals, people living with HIV associations, friends or relatives, other people living with HIV.

^eOutcome ‘willingness to participate in HCRCT’ studied in the present paper was defined as replying ‘Yes, definitely’ versus all other answers (i.e. ‘Yes, perhaps’, ‘Not really’, ‘Yes, perhaps’). ART: antiretroviral therapy; LGBT: lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender.