Old Age Priorities and Needs Related to Men Living with HIV: A Qualitative Study Among Referred Patients to a Big Referral Hospital in Tehran

Abstract

Background: People living with HIV often live for decades after the detection of the virus, leading to a rise in the number of middle-aged and elderly people living with HIV. In fact, as the lives of HIV positive patients return to normal if they fully adhere to HIV treatment, the issue of care and treatment of other diseases, especially non-communicable diseases, becomes more important. Therefore, a study was conducted with the aim of investigating the old age priorities and needs related to men living with HIV.

Methods: This study  a qualitative content analysis. Seven male individuals older than 60 years old living with HIV were invited to a Focus Group Discussion session. Data were collected in this study by gathering the opinions of participants regarding questions aligned with the study’s purpose, which the researchers posed. Dialogues were recorded and documented digitally. The data were transferred to the OPEN CODE software for classification and qualitative analysis.

Results: Analysis of data revealed health issues participants encountered related to cardiovascular, respiratory, gastrointestinal, musculoskeletal, dermatologic, and psychological health. Nevertheless, participants’ assessments of the impact of HIV on various aspects of their health differed. The remainder of the analysis examined the challenges faced, while managing HIV and other aspects of health simultaneously; these included financial burden, fatigue due to chronic disease, managing medication side effects, time-consuming physician visits, and the frequency of such visits.

Conclusion: This study shows that older males living with HIV encounter various physical, mental, and social problems, whereas the quality of patient care delivered by medical staff was not desirable from their point of view.