An evaluation of the effects of a manual on management of HIV/AIDS symptoms

The purposes of this study were to develop a symptom management manual for persons living with HIV disease and to evaluate the effects of the manual on symptom management and quality of life. After a careful review of the research literature and integrating related findings, a manual for managing HIV/ AIDS symptoms was developed. A one-group pretest-posttest design was used with 31 HIV/AIDS patients recruited from one hospital in Taiwan that provides care for people with HIV/AIDS. Subjects were instructed on use of the manual, and completed the Chinese version of the Sign & Symptom Checklist for Persons with HIV and the HIV/AIDS Targeted Quality of Life Instrument for the pretest and two posttests (at one month and three months after the initial session). Results indicated that these participants' symptom intensity was significantly improved at posttest, but their quality of life did not show significant changes at either posttest. Based on the results of this study, the symptom management manual can be used as a teaching tool for clinical health-care providers to decrease these patients' symptom distress.