This study determines the validity and reliability of the Malay version of the World Health Organization Quality of Life (WHOQOL) assessment instrument in patients with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. A cross-sectional study on 157 patients with HIV seen at the Infectious Disease Unit, Hospital Raja Perempuan Zainab II, Kota Bharu, Kelantan was conducted. Factor analysis identified five major domains: physical needs, spirituality, social relationship, psychological, and environment. Significant correlation was found between each domain scores and the general health questions. The instrument was able to discriminate between asymptomatic and symptomatic HIV positive patients for all domain scores except for the spirituality domain. The internal consistency of the five domains ranged from 0.70 to 0.83. The intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) ranged from 0.60 to 0.87 across all domains. In conclusion, the Malay version of WHOQOL-HIV BREF is a valid and reliable instrument in assessing quality of life in HIV positive patients.
Kelantan, a northeastern state in Peninsular Malaysia, is one of the states that has been acutely hit by injecting drug user (IDU)-driven HIV epidemic, in addition to having a high number of infected women in Malaysia. This cross-sectional study describes the socio-demographic characteristics, HIV risk factors, risk perception, and adoption of preventive behaviors among female partners of IDUs in Kelantan. Out of 101 women, the majority of them are from low socioeconomic background and have no other risk factors besides heterosexual HIV transmission from their male IDU partners. Although 45.5% have not been tested for HIV and more than half (53.5%) of them did not use condoms during sexual intercourse, only 44.6% of the women perceived themselves to be at risk of being infected with HIV. Most of the women (86.1%) were willing to undergo voluntary counseling and testing (VCT). Female partners of IDUs continue to be vulnerable to HIV due to having sexual contact with IDUs, and also due to their socioeconomic position in the community. To prevent HIV transmission among female partners of IDUs, consolidating HIV prevention efforts from multiple approaches is needed.