Determinants of quality of life among people with HIV and tuberculosis in an underserved area in Indonesia: a cross-sectional study

Introduction: human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and tuberculosis (TB) remain global health problems and impose a substantial reduction in people´s quality of life (QoL). This study aimed to assess and comparing the QoL in HIV and TB patients and factors associated with QoL between those groups. Methods: a cross-sectional study was conducted at a hospital clinic in Jayapura, Indonesia, between December 2022 and March 2023. Those who were aged above 18 years, diagnosed with HIV or TB infection, have been taking HIV or TB medications for at least 3 months, and provided informed consent were eligible to participate. Patients´ QoL was measured using the Bahasa Indonesia version of a validated 26-item World Health Organization Quality of Life-Brief (WHOQOL-BREF) questionnaire. Results: a total of 365 patients with HIV and 125 with TB were included. The majority of participants were Papuan (75.9%) and aged 20-65 years (92.9%). More than half of the participants were female (56.5%), employed (50.8%), married (65.5%), and had family support (64.9%). Education level and social support were predictors of poor physical health in the HIV group, while ethnicity was a predictor in the TB group. Patients´ age was associated with poor psychological health in HIV, whereas sex was the associated factor in TB patients. Ethnicity was the only predictor of poor social relationships in those with TB. Whereas patients´ age was a predictor of poor environmental health in the HIV group, marital status, and education were predictors in the TB group. Finally, only social support was associated with poor general QoL in TB patients. Conclusion: tuberculosis (TB) patients had poorer QoL than those with HIV. There is a need for more awareness to support those receiving TB treatment. In addition, further research is needed to understand in more detail the determinants of patients with drug-resistant TB, TB with HIV, and drug-resistant TB-HIV, to ensure that interventions are designed to help them.