VALIDATION OF THE QUALITY-OF-LIFE SCALE - LIVING WITH HIV

A grounded theory of Salvaging Quality of Life provided the conceptual framework for the development of the Living with HIV scale which was validated in this study. The HIV + convenience sample (n = 187) was 66 % male, with a mean age of 40.6 years, 69% African-American, and with an average CD4 count of 229 mm(3). A principal components factor analy sis with varimax rotation was conducted on the final 32-item scale and nine factors with Eigenvalues > 1 explained 60% of the variance. A se cond order factor analysis of these nine factors resulted in a two fac tor solution (HIV Struggles and HIV Reverence) which explained 49.4% o f the variance. Cronbach alpha reliability coefficient for the total s cale was 0.84. Differences between gender, ethnicity, education and pr esence of an AIDS diagnosis, and quality of life, were explored. Femal es had higher total scores which suggested they had a more positive qu ality of life than males. The Living with HIV scale can be used as a m ethod of obtaining input from patients for care planning and for evalu ating the effectiveness of nursing care intervention using quality of life as an outcome of care.