Knowledge Item: CA-Quality of Life and Health-44
 Trends in Quality of Life Over the Course of the Treatment Episode 
Part X–Relationship of Time Maintained at the Same or and Improved Quality of Life to Person and Treatment Factors

In interpreting this Knowledge Item, and all others in this section on Quality of Life and Health, remember that the ratings of quality of life, symptom impact, and healthcare utilization are based on patient self reports.

The probability of maintaining an individual at or above the baseline Total Quality of Life Score was estimated from a Cox (proportional hazards) regression or survival analysis. 

More than half of the individuals, in this progressive disease, may be maintained at the same or higher quality of life for a period of time approaching the maximum in our evaluation study, of about three years.

This Knowledge Item shows that low-need HIV patients can be maintained for a longer period of time at 100% of their baseline quality of life levels. While there is a significant difference due to the number of needs and vulnerabilities, it is also true that high need clients can be maintained for periods of a year or more, on average. 

Further analyses given in Knowledge Items: CA-Quality of Life and Health-37, -42, -50, -51, and -39, as well as Knowledge Items: CA-Medical Outcomes-11, -12, and -13 show additional analyses that confirm that the projects with wrap-around comprehensive psychosocial services, supplementing basic medical services, tend to maintain the patient at the same or an increased quality of life for a longer time, and with a greater ratio of improvement, than just medical services. The additional Knowledge Items use alternate statistical designs and models with different factors "controlled," but the different methods of assessing the relative effectiveness of these different types of service models in achieving improved quality of life for the patients all point out the importance of integrated psychosocial or "wrap-around" services. 




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More Information:     CHAID and CHAID Diagram


More Information:     Survival Function or Survival Curve

Likelihood of Keeping a Patient at or Above the Baseline Quality of Life Level Controlling for Initial Level of Quality of Life

Knowledge Item Citation: Huba, G. J., Melchior, L. A., Panter, A. T., and the HRSA/HAB SPNS Cooperative Agreement Steering Committee (1998-2001). Knowledge Item: CA-Quality of Life and Health-44 from HRSA/HAB's SPNS Cooperative Agreements on Innovative Models of Care, The Measurement Group Knowledge Base on HIV/AIDS Care, Online at www.TheMeasurementGroup.com.

Last Updated: March 25, 2005; data through June 15, 1999; analyses conducted March 2001.




Knowledge Base Citation: The Knowledge Base and this Knowledge Item were designed and authored by G. J. Huba, Ph.D.; in collaboration with Lisa A. Melchior, Ph.D.; A. T. Panter, Ph.D.; and the staff of The Measurement Group. Cite this work as "Huba, G. J., Melchior, L. A., and Panter, A. T. (1998 - 2001). The Measurement Group Knowledge Base on HIV/AIDS Care. On the World Wide Web: http://www.TheMeasurementGroup.com."

Questions or Comments: Contact The Measurement Group.

Use of Knowledge Base Information: Acceptable Uses and Limitations.

Collaborators from Participating Projects: Cooperative Agreement Steering Committee 1999

Participating Projects: This Knowledge Base is based on the service delivery experiences of 27 Cooperative Agreement Projects on Innovative Models of HIV/AIDS Care. These projects and the Evaluation and Dissemination Center which produced this Knowledge Base were funded by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), HIV/AIDS Bureau (HAB) as Special Projects of National Significance (SPNS) between 1994 and 1999. Click the Model Programs button above for descriptions of the projects that contributed to this specific Knowledge Item, a list of key staff, and project grant numbers.

Why This Evaluation was Conducted: Editorial.

More Information: Design of this Knowledge Base.

Recommended Citation Format for Web Materials: American Psychological Association Publication Manual Section, Revised 2001.

Work on the Knowledge Base and the cross-cutting evaluation was supported in part by Grant Number 5 U90 HA 00030-05 from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), HIV/AIDS Bureau's (HAB) Special Projects of National Significance (SPNS). The contents of this Knowledge Base are solely the responsibility of The Measurement Group and do not necessarily represent the official views of HRSA or HRSA/HAB's Special Projects of National Significance nor may they represent the positions of the individual grantees whose projects are included in the cross-cutting evaluation.



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