Quality of life of ethnic minority persons living with HIV/AIDS.

OBJECTIVES: The Wilson and Cleary (1995) model of quality of life was tested in a sample of ethnic minority persons living with HIV/AIDS. METHODS: This analysis used data from an international study on self-care symptom management for HIV/AIDS. The total sample included 1,217 adults from the United States, the Common wealth of Puerto Rico, Taiwan, Norway, and Columbia; a subsample (n = 920) of ethnic minority participants was extracted. A six-step hierarchical multiple regression was conducted with quality of life as the dependent variable. RESULTS: The sample consisted of 461 (50.1%) African Americans, 316 (34.3%) Hispanics, 126 (13.7%) Asian/Pacific Islanders, and 17 (1.8%) Native American Indians. Fifteen predictors explained 22.9% of the variance in life satisfaction. Individual characteristics, environment, physiological factors, symptom status, functional status, and general health perceptions made statistically significant contributions to life satisfaction. CONCLUSIONS: The Wilson and Cleary model of quality of life served as a useful organizing framework for developing an understanding of the correlates of quality of life for a subsample of ethnic minority persons living with HIV/AIDS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]