The present study examined psychosocial variables as predictors of psychological distress and well-being in gay men with Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and the Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS). The psychosocial variables investigated included communal and agentic personality variables, social support, as well as social hindrance, and self-determination variables. The total sample comprised 126 gay men. Forty-eight were seropositive for the HIV infection, 40 received a diagnosis of AIDS, and 38 were seronegative for the HIV infection. The participants with HIV and AIDS were recruited from Immunodeficiency clinics and the HIV$-$ participants were friends and acquaintances of the HIV+ and AIDS participants. The three groups of participants completed questionnaires assessing stable personality traits such as dependency and self-criticism, intimacy, affiliation, achievement, and power strivings, perceived and received social support, social hindrance of personal strivings, and levels of self-determination such as introjective and identified striving motivation. / Multiple hierarchical regression analyses were conducted to assess the predictive utility of each independent variable in predicting psychological distress and well-being. Perceived social support, striving intimacy, and striving achievement were found to be negatively associated with distress and positively associated with well-being across the three groups. Dependency, self-criticism, social hindrance, social hindrance of striving power, and introjective striving motivation were positively associated with distress and negatively with well-being. When all significant independent variables were entered in a regression analysis and simultaneously predicted the outcome variables, perceived social support, self-criticism and social hindrance of strivings significantly predicted psychological distress, and perceived social support, self-criticism, identified and introjective striving motivation predicted psychological well-being. Several independent variables were stronger predictors of distress in the HIV+ group than in the AIDS group: striving power, social hindrance of striving power, dependency, and perceived social support. Results suggest that the HIV+ group is distinct psychologically from the AIDS group. The self-concept theory and the cognitive adaptation theory were discussed in order to explain these group differences. The findings of the present study highlight the important impact psychosocial variables can have on the psychological adjustment of gay men with HIV and AIDS.

A cross-sectional survey was carried out to evaluate the nutritional correlates of growth in 93 HIV-infected children in the early and middle stages of infection. Also, as zinc is important for growth and immune function, foods commonly eaten by these children were evaluated for zinc content. Foods with relatively high zinc were identified in Uganda, and these food items were legumes and cereals. A high prevalence of stunting and wasting was found in HIV-infected children. The study also found that the frequency of past week oil/fat and staples consumption was non-significantly correlated to weight-for-height at the early stage, while household size was negatively, but non-significantly, associated with WHZ in all HIV-infected children. Few caregivers reported feeding certain foods to HIV-infected children based on beliefs.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 55-58). / ix, 58 leaves, bound ill. 29 cm

The high prevalence of HIV/AIDS in Zambia has led to the development of innovative ways of coping with sickness related to this infection. HIV/AIDS home-based care is one such innovation designed in Chikankata Hospital in 1987. Home-based care depends on the availability of family members and community volunteers in the provision of care and support for People Living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA).<br /> <br /> This minithesis is based on a qualitative descriptive case study exploring perspectives regarding skills, supervision and support mechanisms for carers in the Chikankata HIV/AIDS Community-Home Based Care (CHBC) program. The study utilized documented research, focus group discussions with carers and structured interviews with local CHBC supervisors, national experts in CHBC, and PLWHA and their families, to collect data from 32 study participants.<br /> <br /> The findings were that CHBC was being delivered by community volunteers with limited involvement from the local health services / that carers were highly motivated, personally and collectively mobilizing resources to meet the needs of CHBC clientele / that local arrangements for training, skills and support of carers were not aligned to national guidelines regarding process, content and duration of programmes / and that carers acquired skills in CHBC through formal and informal training processes and were facing challenges related to inadequate skills, poor infrastructure and extreme poverty in households caring for PLWHA. <br /> <br /> Based on the findings the local arrangements for coordination of CHBC need to be strengthened and linked to formal processes for technical support, financial resources and materials for delivery of CHBC in line with existing guidelines on CHBC. The picture of the real situation of the carers that emerges from this qualitative study might inform the supervising organizations and policymakers on the gaps in the training and support of this crucial cadre in the provision of quality care for People Living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) at community level.

Currently, HIV/AIDS is one of the greatest threats to child survival in South Africa. It is estimated that approximately 6000 newborn babies become infected with the HIV virus monthly i.e. approximately 200 babies per day. During a 24 month period (October 1999 &ndash / October 2001), a descriptive prevalence study of the oro-facial manifestations affecting HIV-positive children was conducted in the Cape Peninsula, South Africa. The study population consisted of 268 vertically infected HIV-positive children. The study was motivated by the lack of data regarding oral mucosal lesions in children with vertically acquired HIV-infection.<br /> <br /> The study design was descriptive, and the population included consecutive, vertically infected HIV-positive patients sourced from out-patient clinics, hospital wards and special child-care facilities. The children were examined once consent was obtained from caregivers. The findings were documented using data capturing sheets. The data was captured on the Microsoft Excel program and analysed using the Epi 2000 program. The results indicated that a large proportion of HIV-infected children presented with orofacial manifestations at some stage during the course of HIV-infection. Oro-facial manifestations were observed in 70.1% of the study population. The prevalence of the most commonly observed manifestations were: oral candidiasis, 38.8% / parotid gland enlargement, 10.8% / oral ulceration, 5.6% / molluscum contagiosum, 7.8% / periodontal conditions, 3.4% / and herpes simplex infection, 0.7%.It can be concluded that in this sample of HIV-infected children, the prevalence of orofacial manifestations is higher than, and comparable with the findings of similar studies conducted in other regions of the world.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Ohio University, August, 2007. / Title from PDF t.p. Includes bibliographical references.

Assignment (MMed)--University of Stellenbosch, 2006. / Bibliography. Also available via the Internet.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Toronto, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 175-187).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Toronto, 2006. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 67-06, Section: A, page: 2064. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 175-184).

Thesis (PhD) -- University of Western Sydney, 2001. / "Thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, University of Western Sydney, School of Nursing, Family and Community Studies." Bibliography: leaves 219-254.