Abstract:
Background: Reproductive age women have special needs and burdens related to sexual and
reproductive health, social role, and psychological health. This need among reproductive age women
living with HIV will be higher due to their HIV status, discrimination or social interaction. However,
health related quality of life of such population is not well addressed in Ethiopia.
Objectives: To assess the magnitude and associated factors of health-related quality of life (HRQOL)
among reproductive age women on anti-retro viral treatment (ART) in Hiwot Fana Specialized
University Hospital, Harar, 2020
Methods: A facility-based cross-sectional study was conducted on consecutively selected
reproductive age women through a face-to face interview. The value below the mean for overall and
each domain is regarded as poor HRQOL. Crude and adjusted analyses were conducted to identify
factors associated with each domain of HRQOL. Statistical significance was declared at p < 0.05.
Results: Of a total 424 approached women, 418 (98.6%) participated in the study. The mean age of
participants was 36.19 (±4.79) years, ranging from 18-48 years. Overall, 248 (59.3%) had poor
HRQOL. Women with current CD4+ above the median (780 cells/µL), more than 6 years on ART and
having no/fewer children had higher odds of good HRQOL in all of the domains. Also, women who
disclosed their status to their partner had higher odds of good HRQOL in the physical (AOR 4.61;
95% CI 1.04-20.56) and social relations domain (AOR 3.64; 95% CI 1.16-11.46) than those who didn’t
disclose. Likewise, women who had ART adherence support team had higher odds good HRQOL in
the psychological health (AOR 4.77; 95% CI 1.93-11.82) and the social relations domain (AOR 2.52;
95% CI 1.13-5.63) than their counterparts.
Conclusions: The level of independence and spiritual and personal belief were the worst domains
while physical and social relations were the best HRQOL domains. Longer duration on ART and
recent higher CD4+ cell count, disclosure of HIV status and obtaining care from adherence support
team were associated with the better domains of HRQOL. Addressing issues of independence, spiritual
and personal beliefs, psychological and environmental health domains are essential for improving
HRQOL of reproductive age women
