| Popis: |
HIV disease disclosure in children is complicated by the dynamic developmental goals which risk potential retaliation from the affected children. Such occurrences may affect the children’s overall well-being, their outlook on life, therapy adherence, and social life. Disclosure of HIV status in children is meant to promote better understanding and allow them to be responsible to their body and health. Our study aimed to discover the long-term psychosocial impact of HIV status disclosure in children receiving anti-retroviral therapy. A qualitative study was conducted from 1st June 2017 until 8th September 2017 among HIV-positive children on combination anti-retroviral therapy (cART) on-going routine follow-up in Department of Paediatrics, Hospital Tuanku Fauziah, Kangar, Perlis, Malaysia. Face-to-face interviews were conducted between the children and the team of investigators. Transcribed interview dialogues wereISSN - 2456-7728 subsequently coded for thematic analysis. Data were collected from 6 out of 8 HIV-positive children on ART. Participants’ mean age was 12.2 years old (standard deviation [SD] 2.11); three with disease disclosure, another three without. The average duration since the first session of disease disclosure was 14.7 months (SD 7.36). We found that disease-disclosed participants were more withdrawn with less than three outdoor activities per week. Disease-disclosed children also did not demonstrate any remorse or anger towards the parents despite the awareness and understanding of having contracted the disease via vertical transmission. Disease disclosure status, however did not substantially affect the children’s compliance to ART medication. We found that our patients showed evidence of good therapy adherence regardless of disclosure status. The source of motivations for therapy adherence, however were on contrasting grounds related to their disclosure status. As a conclusion, a perpetual clinical and social supportive network is warranted in the holistic management of children living with HIV to ensure positive upbringing towards promising personal growth. |
