QUALITY-OF-LIFE IN OLDER ADULTS WITH HIV DISEASE

Quality-of-life (QOL) measures have become valuable additions to tradi tional morbidity and mortality outcomes in evaluating the progression of disease or the efficacy of medical interventions. With significant increases in longevity and an expanding treatment repertoire, QOL issu es for people with HIV/AIDS have become increasingly important. Furthe rmore, as people are living longer with HIV/AIDS and the population in general ages, the number of persons older than age 50 who have HIV/AI DS is increasing. As QOL issues become more important for people with HIV/AIDS and as the population with HIV/AIDS ages, several issues rela ted to QOL among older people arise. These include conceptual issues r elated to QOL and aging, as well as methodological issues of QOL asses sments among older persons. This article begins with a brief discussio n of why QOL is important to measure, various measurement strategies, and QOL comparisons between HIV/AIDS populations and other chronic dis ease groups. This is followed by a discussion of conceptual and method ological issues in measuring QOL among older persons. Finally, the aut hors conclude with recommendations for future research.