Risk Factors and Symptoms Associated With Pain in HIV-Infected Adults

Studies suggest that people living with HIV (PLWH) experience many unrelieved symptoms. The purpose of this study was to estimate the occurrence of pain in adult PLWH and to determine whether participants with pain differed from those without pain on selected demographic factors, clinical characteristics, symptoms of fatigue, sleep disturbance, anxiety, or depression. The authors conducted a descriptive, comparative, and correlational study of 317 PLWH seen at academic and community clinics in San Francisco. Participants completed a demographic questionnaire, the Memorial Symptom Assessment Scale, the Fatigue Severity Scale, the General Sleep Disturbance Scale, the Profile of Moods State Tension-Anxiety subscale, and the Center for Epidemiological Studies-Depression Scale. Clinical characteristics (i.e., disease and treatment information) were obtained by self-report. A single item on pain from the Memorial Symptom Assessment Scale was used to classify participants into those with and without pain. Pain was highly prevalent (55%) and was associated with immune status (CD4+ T-cell count), race, and sleep disturbance, but not with age, gender, or symptoms of fatigue, depression, or anxiety.

Key words: HIV, PLWH, pain, sleep disturbance, symptoms