[Living with HIV: a qualitative research]

Objective [s]: To investigate on consequences of living with HIV/AIDS

Methods: This was a qualitative study. Initially we selected a convenience sample and then narrowed-down the sample by maximum diversity in terms of age and education. Data was collected via semi-structured interviews. All interviews were recorded and transcribed, and the codes were extracted after reviewing them several times. Content analysis was performed to explore the data

Results: In all 34 participants were interviewed: 32 HIV positive men [with age average: 37.5 years and standard deviation: 7.13] and 4 HIV positive women [with age average: 34 years and standard deviation: 3.04] Participants indicated the following consequences: social, psychological, physical and economic. Most participants referred to adverse social outcome as the most important consequences of living with HIV/AIDS. The most important social adverse effect mentioned by participants was stigma, discrimination and exclusion

Conclusion: The findings suggest that stigma and discrimination should be lessening for people who live with HIV/AID. Perhaps media could play an important role to achieve this

[Perceived barriers of condom use in people living with HIV/AIDS: a qualitative research]

Objective [s]: There is evidence that a significant proportion of People Living with HIV [PLWH] still practice unsafe sex and this remains a challenge for HIV prevention. To effectively promote their consistent use, it was necessary to understand their sexual practices and experience of barriers to condom use. This qualitative study explored perceptions of PLWH regarding condom use barriers in the Islamic Republic of Iran

Methods: In-depth, semi-structured interviews were held with a purposively selected group of 26 PLHIV [22 male and 4 female] recruited from three HIV care clinics in Tehran. Data were analyzed using the content analysis approach

Results: Nearly all participants reported that their major barriers experienced were that condoms reduced their sexual satisfaction and caused hindered their sexual interest. Less than half of people noted to: embarrassed to buy condoms and unavailability of condoms during sexual contact. Nine percent of male patients practiced unprotected sex in the last sex

Conclusion: Risk-taking sexual behavior has been shown to decrease among HIV-infected individuals when intervention strategies are implemented in HV health care settings. Prevention efforts targeting HIV-positive to assist them in adopting and maintaining safer sexual behaviors need to be intensified

qualitative evaluation o men living with HIV: views on codom use

Unprotected sexual activity is an important reason for the currently growing incidence of HIV infection in Iran. Recognizing barriers to safe sexual practice and affordance of behavioral changes can improve planning for condom promotion. The main objective of our study is to evaluate the opinions of HIV-positive men on condom use. Our study was performed at three behavioral disease consultation clinics [HIV care clinics] in Tehran, Iran. Participants were initially selected among HIV-positive male patients by convenience sampling and narrowed-down by maximum diversity sampling in order to obtain the number of patients that would express various viewpoints regarding barriers and benefits to condom use. Data were collected using in-depth semi-structured individual interviews. All interviews were recorded and transcribed, and the codes were extracted after reviewing them several times. In this study, 22 HIV-positive men with a mean age of 37.5 +/- 7.3 years were interviewed. Participants mentioned the prevention of HIV and sexually transmitted diseases as a benefit of condom use. However, most named decreased sexual satisfaction as the most important reason for not using condom. Because of decreased sexual satisfaction and unpleasantness, 9% of participants had not used condom during sexual intercourse. The most important reason for not using condom was decreased sexual satisfaction. This study was indicated a need for consultations with HIV-positive and at risk populations to change their attitudes towards condom use and demonstrate the advantages of condom. To achieve this, government programs and media should be utilized