Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Risk Behaviors Of Hiv-Infected Young Adults, Jennifer Doss Dewey

MSN Research Projects

Despite research, education, and preventive programs, HIV continues to thrive. It is estimated that half the HIV infections worldwide have occurred in individuals between the ages of 15 and 24 years. HIV-infected individuals who persist in the same behaviors that put them at risk are potentially infecting others as well as further endangering their own health. An awareness of the risk behaviors in which the fast growing HIV-infected young adult population is engaging might be useful in future education and prevention efforts. The purpose of this study was to explore the risk behaviors of HIV-infected young adults. The theoretical framework …

Psychosocial And Physiologic Correlates Of Perceived Health Among Hiv-Infected Women, Kenneth D. Phillips, R.L. Sowell, C.J. Rush, C.L. Murdaugh

Faculty Publications and Other Works -- Nursing

The purpose of this study was to identify factors related to perception of physical health in a cohort of HIV-infected women. A descriptive correlational design was used to identify factors influencing perceived physical health in a sample of 275 HIV-infected women in Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina. Participants were predominantly single African-American women with household incomes of less than $10,000 per year.

Using Spearman’s rho, statistically significant positive correlations (p < .05) were found between perceived physical health and T helper cell count, hope, present life satisfaction, education, and income. Statistically significant positive correlations (p <.05) were observed between perceived physical health and three HIV-specific active coping styles (managing the illness, focusing on others, and positive thinking). Inverse relationships were observed between perceived physical health and HIVrelated symptoms, stage of illness, depression, physical and sexual violence experienced since becoming HIV-infected, history of drug use since becoming HIV-infected, and age. Using backward stepwise selection, 9 of 14 variables were retained in the final model that explained 60% of the variance in physical health at the p < .10 level of significance (R2 = .60). Variables that demonstrated a significant relationship with perceived physical health were HIV-related symptoms, depression, present life satisfaction, age, education, coping by managing the illness, coping through positive thinking, and coping by focusing on the present. These findings support the need to address the psychosocial as well as the physiologic factors associated with HIV/AIDS in developing comprehensive plans of nursing care.

Psychosocial And Physiologic Correlates Of Perceived Health Among Hiv-Infected Women, Kenneth D. Phillips, R.L. Sowell, C.J. Rush, C.L. Murdaugh

Kenneth D. Phillips

The purpose of this study was to identify factors related to perception of physical health in a cohort of HIV-infected women. A descriptive correlational design was used to identify factors influencing perceived physical health in a sample of 275 HIV-infected women in Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina. Participants were predominantly single African-American women with household incomes of less than $10,000 per year.

Using Spearman’s rho, statistically significant positive correlations (p < .05) were found between perceived physical health and T helper cell count, hope, present life satisfaction, education, and income. Statistically significant positive correlations (p <.05) were observed between perceived physical health and three HIV-specific active coping styles (managing the illness, focusing on others, and positive thinking). Inverse relationships were observed between perceived physical health and HIVrelated symptoms, stage of illness, depression, physical and sexual violence experienced since becoming HIV-infected, history of drug use since becoming HIV-infected, and age. Using backward stepwise selection, 9 of 14 variables were retained in the final model that explained 60% of the variance in physical health at the p < .10 level of significance (R2 = .60). Variables that demonstrated a significant relationship with perceived physical health were HIV-related symptoms, depression, present life satisfaction, age, education, coping by managing the illness, coping through positive thinking, and coping by focusing on the present. These findings support the need to address the psychosocial as well as the physiologic factors associated with HIV/AIDS in developing comprehensive plans of nursing care.