Women with HIV/AIDS described several forms of positive change resulting from their illness
QUESTION: What are the perceptions of illness related positive change among women living with HIV/AIDS?
Design
Qualitative study.
Setting
New York City, New York, USA.
Patients
54 women (mean age 36 y) were recruited through advertisements, flyers, and community outreach to health, social, and advocacy organisations. Inclusion criteria were HIV antibody seropositivity or diagnosis of AIDS; residence in metropolitan New York City; if Hispanic, were Puerto Rican (of any race) and living on the mainland for ≥4 years, or if African-American or white, were native born and non-Hispanic; and no IV drug use in the previous 6 months. 18 were African-American, 19 were non-Hispanic white, and 17 were Puerto Rican. 56% had AIDS, 23% were symptomatic, and 21% were asymptomatic.
Methods
Women participated in 2 semistructured interviews within a 1 month period, with each session lasting about 2 hours. Interviews began with a general question about changes because of HIV/AIDS, and then specific changes in behaviour, relationships, spirituality, goals, and how the person had changed from before infection. Interviews were audiotaped and transcribed verbatim for thematic analysis.
Main findings
Although women acknowledged the negative consequences …
