University of Cincinnati to Re-Examine Why Some With HIV Say Quality of Life has Improved Since Being Infected

The University of Cincinnati has received a $1.5 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to conduct a follow-up study into why some people with HIV have indicated that their lives have improved since they became infected, the Cincinnati Enquirer reports. Forty-nine percent of 51 people with HIV surveyed in a 1999 UC study said that their lives had gotten better since being infected because they had become "more spiritual" or "more religious," had conquered a drug addiction or had stopped practicing a behavior that led to their infection. Others said they had "gained a new focus on what matters in life." The new study, which will include more than 200 HIV patients from UC and more than 125 from the George Washington University Medical Center in Washington, D.C., will survey a broader population segment than the previous study, interviewing people who are in varying disease stages from a variety of socioeconomic and demographic backgrounds. All subjects will be interviewed twice to determine if and/or how their attitudes change. Dr. Joel Tsevat, director of outcomes research at UC and lead investigator for the new study, said that "not all HIV/AIDS patients feel" that their lives have improved, but a "large chunk" of people do. "If we can figure out why certain patients with HIV/AIDS feel their life is better now ... perhaps we can design interventions to help those who don't feel that way," he explained (Bonfield, Cincinnati Enquirer, 1/14).