Clinical Institute of Psychiatry and Psychology, Hospital Clínic Universitari de Barcelona, 08036 Barcelona, Spain. jblanch@clinic.ub.es
Abstract
A standardized questionnaire was used to assess the impact of lipodystrophy (LD) on quality of life (QoL). Eighty-four consecutive asymptomatic human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1)-infected outpatients with clinical LD completed a modified version of the Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI) survey to measure the impact of body fat changes on their QoL. Body changes influenced dressing for 55 patients (65%), produced feelings of shame for 41 (49%), and disrupted sexual life for 23 (27%). There was a greater impact on the DLQI due to body changes among women, injection drug users, patients with abdominal or breast lipoaccumulation, and patients with a high number of non-LD side effects. Multivariate proportional odds model analysis showed that the severity of non-LD-associated side effects and the presence of breast lipoaccumulation were associated with impaired psychosocial functioning. Specific characteristics of patients, antiretroviral-based side effects, and breast lipoaccumulation exert a greater impact on QoL in HIV-1-infected patients with LD.