Browsing Physiotherapy by Subject "HIV/AIDS"
Now showing items 1-2 of 2
-
Nankwanga, Annet; Phillips, Julie; Neema, Stella (Faculty of Community and Health Sciences, University of the Western Cape, 2009)[more][less]
Abstract: Introduction: This paper presents HIV/AIDS experiences of elderly persons in Uganda as revealed by an ongoing descriptive cross-sectional study covering eight districts, namely: Pallisa, Kampala, Jinja, Lira, Nebbi, Ntungamo, Luwero and Mbarara. These districts represent both the rural and urban areas of the four regions of Uganda, including: Western, Northern, Eastern and Central region. Methods: The study employed a mixed method approach using a sequential exploratory strategy. Data was collected using not only focus group discussions and in-depth interviews held with 165 elderly persons but also a validated interview schedule administered to 50 key informants. Elderly persons participated in the study by providing data on their HIV/AIDS-related experiences. Key respondents were selected to provide data on strategies that could be adopted to curb the effects of the epidemic. This paper is based on one of the study's objectives, which focussed on exploring the effects of HIV/AIDS on Uganda's elderly people; coping mechanisms used to deal with HIV/AIDS; and strategies for curbing its effects. Data was analysed using content analysis and the descriptive method of SPSS. Results: Results show that HIV/AIDS affected most of the elderly people in Uganda by killing their children and spouses, and leaving them with a big burden of taking care of AIDS orphans; yet majority of these people were financially too incapacitated to shoulder it amply. HIV/AIDS also infected the elderly people. The epidemic introduced the need for ARVs and other health services that elderly people found too difficult to access due to poor health service delivery systems in Uganda. Most elderly people used food cultivation as a mechanism for coping with the burden of orphans. These results lead to recommending that government should economically empower elderly people through formulation and effective implementation of welfare policies regarding pension and special fund for these people. Conclusion: There is a need for the government to provide adequate and free HIV/AIDS-related health services and also increase educational support for HIV/AIDS orphans. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10566/121 Files in this item: 1
AnnetHIV2009.pdf (178.8Kb) -
Biraguma, Juvenal; Rhoda, Anthea (Taylor & Francis, 2012)[more][less]
Abstract: Although the life expectancy of people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWH) has increased in the past years, they could experience secondary illness such as peripheral neuropathy (PN). Therefore, they need to adapt to chronic disablement which could affect their quality of life (QoL). The research that informed this article aimed at determining the prevalence of PN among adults living with HIV/AIDS and attending the outpatients’ clinic at Rutongo Hospital in the Rulindo district of Rwanda. Another aim was to determine these patients’ QoL. A cross-sectional descriptive quantitative research design was used. A time-constrained method was used to sample 185 adults living with HIV/AIDS and attending the outpatients’ clinic at Rutongo Hospital. The subjective PN screen and the World Health Organization Quality of Life Scale Brief Version were used to collect the data. Data were analysed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences. Student’s t-test and one-way analysis of variance were performed to determine if significant differences existed between QoL scores in participants with and without PN symptoms. The results indicated that 40.5% of respondents experienced PN. QoL in participants with PN showed significantly lower scores in the physical (p ¼ 0.013) and psychological (p ¼ 0.020) domains when compared with those who did not have PN. These results indicate a high prevalence of neuropathy among PLWH attending the outpatients’ clinic at Rutongo Hospital. In addition, patients with neuropathy had lower QoL scores in the physical and psychological domains than those without neuropathy symptoms. The management of PLWH should therefore include interventions to optimise QoL as well as screening for neuropathy symptoms so that sufferers can liaise with their medical providers to find medical and supportive therapies that could assist them. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10566/529 Files in this item: 1
BiragumaPeripheralNeuropathy2012.pdf (98.16Kb)
Now showing items 1-2 of 2