EFFECTIVENESS OF HIV/AIDS GROUP BASED SKILL BUILDING INTERVENTION ON HEATH-RELATED QUALITY OF LIFE (HRQOL) IN IRANIAN DRUG ABUSER MEN

Background and Aim : Chronic illnesses like addiction are constantly causing a crisis in the life of addicted people and can reduce their quality of life (QOL). In the absence of treatment, QOL decreases as substance use progresses, but appropriate treatment has proved to improve the HRQOL of substance users.Methods : Men in methadone maintenance or outpatient psychosocial treatment in Tehran completed assessments at baseline, 3- and 6- months post-intervention. Participants were randomly assigned to attend either Group Based Skill Building Intervention (GBSBI; five sessions containing information, motivational exercises and skills training, (n=199)), or HIV education (HIV-Ed; one session containing HIV prevention information (n=188)). HRQOL was assessed by the WHOQOL-BREF questionnaire. Results : Data analysis revealed that the mean score of HRQOL in the GBSBI group had a significantly higher increase during the prior to the 3- and 6-month follow-ups than HIV-Ed participants. The mean of HRQOL in Physical, Psychological, Social and Environmental domains for GBSBI group was (81.55, 79.22, 76.58, 68.94), respectively, that had shown the significant differences in comparison with the control group (p 0.000).Conclusion : A motivational and skills training HIV prevention intervention designed for men was associated with greater HRQOL increasing over standard HIV education.

Keywords:

Group based skill building , heath-related quality of life , and addiction