Review: Women living with HIV/AIDS and the bodily transformation process known as lipodystrophy: a grounded theory study

摘要

This study is an important contribution to the quality of life literature for women living with HIV/AIDS. The movement of HIV/AIDS from a fatal disease to a chronic condition is a testament to advances in pharmacology and early identification and treatment. However, the treatment advances have brought new problems to the forefront. Although individuals with HIV/AIDS are living longer, major life-disrupting side-effects of current treatment modalities have added more burden to the lives of many individuals with HIV/AIDS. One of the major side-effects of Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy (HAART) is the HIV-related lipodystrophy syndrome. HIV-related lipodystrophy syndrome is characterised by abnormal distribution of subcutaneous fat, and may include peripheral fat loss (lipoatrophy) in the arms, legs, face and buttocks, and lipohypertrophy (fat accumulation) in the trunk, chest, breasts, neck or other areas of the body (Wierzbicki et al., 2008). A recent multi-site study of 965 individuals with HIV/AIDS showed that more than half (58.2%) of the patients who reported body changes thought that these affected their daily life; this effect seemed to be greater within the female population, and significantly greater for mood and self-esteem implications as compared to men in the sample (Cabrero et al., 2010).