Esthetic self-perception of HIV/AIDS patients under antiretroviral therapy suffering from lipodystrophic syndrome and its influence on the quality of life in a city of the Brazilian northeast

Abstract

This paper aims to evaluate the impact of lipodystrophic syndrome (LDS) on the quality of life and esthetic 
self-perception of people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) under highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART). 
This is an exploratory observational study, with quantitative and qualitative data, using world health 
organization quality of life instrument – HIV (WHOQOL-HIV BREF) and esthetic perception and evaluation of 
fat redistribution in patients with HIV/AIDS as instruments. The sample consisted of 48 PLWHA, aged 
between 32 and 66 years. 89.6% of PLWHA were interested in changing parts of their bodies perceived as 
altered or compromised by LDS, as reinforced by the fact that they "realize" (35.4%) and "feel" (35.4%) that 
they are differently perceived by other people. With respect to quality of life, spirituality, religion and 
personal beliefs obtained the highest mean (14.7) with SD = 4.0. This study suggests that HIV infection and 
the presence of LDS, based on the self-perception of the participants, may affect not only biomedical 
aspects, but psychosocial and spiritual ones as well, intervening in the quality of life of these individuals.