Annals
Established in 1927 by the American College of Physicians
:
Advanced search
box Article
 arrow  Table of Contents                
space
 arrow  Full Text of this article
space
 arrow  PDF of this article
(PDFs free after 6 months)
space
 arrow  Figures/Tables List
space
box Services
 arrow  Send comment/rapid response letter
space
 arrow  Notify a friend about this article
space
 arrow  Alert me when this article is cited
space
 arrow  Add to Personal Archive
space
 arrow  Download to Citation Manager
space
 arrow  ACP Search                        
space
 arrow  Get Permissions
space
box Google Scholar
 arrow  Search for Related Content
space
box PubMed
Articles in PubMed by Author:
  arrow  Tsevat, J.
space
  arrow  Fowler, F. J., Jr.
space
 arrow  Related Articles in PubMed
space
 arrow  PubMed Citation
space
 arrow  PubMed
space

BRIEF COMMUNICATION

The Will To Live among HIV-Infected Patients

right arrow Joel Tsevat, MD, MPH; Susan N. Sherman, DPA; Judith A. McElwee, RN; Karen L. Mandell, PharmD; Loretta A. Simbartl, MS; Frank A. Sonnenberg, MD; and Floyd J. Fowler Jr., PhD

3 August 1999 | Volume 131 Issue 3 | Pages 194-198

Background: Patients infected with HIV value both longevity and health.

Objective: To understand how HIV-infected patients value their health.

Design: Interview study.

Setting: Regional treatment center for HIV.

Patients: 51 patients with HIV infection.

Measurements: Life-satisfaction, health rating, time-tradeoff, and standard-gamble scores.

Results: Of the 51 patients, 49% (95% CI, 35% to 63%) said that their life was better currently than it was before they contracted HIV infection; only 29% said that life was currently worse. The mean (± SD)time-tradeoff score was 0.95 ± 0.10, indicating that, on average, patients would give up no more than 5% of their remaining life expectancy in their current state of health in exchange for a shorter but healthy life. The average health rating score was 71.0 ± 18.7 on a scale of 0 to 100, and the average standard-gamble score was 0.80 ± 0.27. Factors contributing to life satisfaction and time-tradeoff scores included spirituality and having children.

Conclusion: Many patients with HIV have a strong will to live, and many feel that life with HIV is better than it was before they became infected.

Author and Article Information
space

From the University of Cincinnati Medical Center and SNS Research, Cincinnati, Ohio; University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, New Brunswick, New Jersey; and University of Massachusetts at Boston, Boston, Massachusetts.

Note: Portions of this paper were presented at the 20th Annual Meeting of the Society of General Internal Medicine, Washington, D.C., May 1997, and the 19th Annual Meeting of the Society for Medical Decision Making, Houston, Texas, October 1997.

Acknowledgments: The authors thank Jill Leonard, RN, and Tonya Bess, LPN, for help with recruiting patients and Vickie Stringfellow and her staff for coding the in-depth interviews.

Grant Support: By the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research (1 R01 HS 09103-01).

Requests for Reprints: Joel Tsevat,MD, MPH, Section of Outcomes Research, Division of General Internal Medicine, University of Cincinnati Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH 45267-0535; e-mail, Joel.Tsevat{at}uc.edu.

Current Author Addresses: Drs.Tsevat and Mandell and Ms. Simbartl: Section of Outcomes Research, Division of General Internal Medicine, Box 670535, University of Cincinnati Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH 45267-0535.

Dr. Sherman: SNS Research, 11120 Sycamore Grove Lane, Cincinnati, OH 45241.

Ms. McElwee: Infectious Diseases Center, Box670405, University of Cincinnati Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH 45267-0405.

Dr. Sonnenberg: Division of General Internal Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, 125 Paterson Street, Room 2312, New Brunswick, NJ 08903.

Dr. Fowler: Center for Survey Research, University of Massachusetts at Boston, 100 Morrissey Boulevard, Boston, MA 02125-3393.




This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
Int J STD AIDSHome page
S P Tole, G D Sanders, A M Bayoumi, C M Galvin, T N Vinichenko, M L Brandeau, and D K Owens
Cost-effectiveness of voluntary HIV screening in Russia
Int J STD AIDS, January 1, 2009; 20(1): 46 - 51.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
ANN INTERN MEDHome page
G. D. Sanders, A. M. Bayoumi, M. Holodniy, and D. K. Owens
Cost-Effectiveness of HIV Screening in Patients Older than 55 Years of Age
Ann Intern Med, June 17, 2008; 148(12): 889 - 903.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
Operations ResearchHome page
S. M. Shechter, M. D. Bailey, A. J. Schaefer, and M. S. Roberts
The Optimal Time to Initiate HIV Therapy Under Ordered Health States
Operations Research, January 1, 2008; 56(1): 20 - 33.
[Abstract] [PDF]


Home page
Sex. Transm. Infect.Home page
D N Fisman
Health related quality of life in genital herpes: a pilot comparison of measures
Sex Transm Inf, June 1, 2005; 81(3): 267 - 270.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
NEJMHome page
G. D. Sanders, A. M. Bayoumi, V. Sundaram, S. P. Bilir, C. P. Neukermans, C. E. Rydzak, L. R. Douglass, L. C. Lazzeroni, M. Holodniy, and D. K. Owens
Cost-Effectiveness of Screening for HIV in the Era of Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy
N. Engl. J. Med., February 10, 2005; 352(6): 570 - 585.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
Med Decis MakingHome page
J. T. King Jr., J. Tsevat, and M. S. Roberts
Positive Association between Current Health and Health Values for Hypothetical Disease States
Med Decis Making, August 1, 2004; 24(4): 367 - 378.
[Abstract] [PDF]


Home page
Med Decis MakingHome page
J. M. Mrus and J. Tsevat
Cost-Effectiveness of Interventions to Reduce Vertical HIV Transmission from Pregnant Women Who Have Not Received Prenatal Care
Med Decis Making, January 1, 2004; 24(1): 30 - 39.
[Abstract] [PDF]


Home page
Med Decis MakingHome page
H. J. Schunemann, E. Stahl, P. Austin, E. Akl, D. Armstrong, and G. H. Guyatt
A Comparison of Narrative and Table Formats for Presenting Hypothetical Health States to Patients with Gastrointestinal or Pulmonary Disease
Med Decis Making, January 1, 2004; 24(1): 53 - 60.
[Abstract] [PDF]


Home page
Med Decis MakingHome page
J. M. Mrus, M. S. Yi, K. A. Freedberg, A. W. Wu, R. Zackin, H. Gorski, and J. Tsevat
Utilities Derived from Visual Analog Scale Scores in Patients with HIV/AIDS
Med Decis Making, September 1, 2003; 23(5): 414 - 421.
[Abstract] [PDF]


Home page
Med Decis MakingHome page
L. G. Singer, J. Theodore, and M. K. Gould
Validity of Standard Gamble Utilities as Measured by Transplant Readiness in Lung Transplant Candidates
Med Decis Making, September 1, 2003; 23(5): 435 - 440.
[Abstract] [PDF]


Home page
J Am Board Fam MedHome page
W. L. Toffler
The Challenge of Caring for the Severely Disabled
J Am Board Fam Med, January 1, 2003; 16(1): 78 - 80.
[Full Text] [PDF]




 Home | Current Issue | Past Issues | In the Clinic | ACP Journal Club | CME | Collections | Audio/Video | Mobile | Subscribe | Tools | Help | ACP Online 

Copyright © 1999 by the American College of Physicians.