Assessment of pain and associated factors in people living with HIV/AIDS

OBJECTIVE: to evaluate pain in people living with human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome and to relate it to sociodemographic and clinical factors, depressive symptoms and health-related quality of life. METHOD: descriptive, analytical, observational, cross-sectional and quantitative study. Three hundred and two (302) people assisted at a specialized care service participated in the study. Instruments were used to evaluate sociodemographic and clinical data, depressive symptoms, and health-related quality of life. Descriptive, bivariate analysis and multiple logistic regression were used. RESULTS: the incidence of pain of mild intensity was 59.27%, recurrent in the head, with interference in mood, mostly affecting females and individuals with no schooling/low schooling. Women were more likely to have moderate or severe pain. People aged 49 to 59 years had greater pain intensity than people aged 18 to 29 years. The variables depressive symptoms and pain were directly proportional. The higher the health-related quality of life and schooling, the lower was the possibility of presence of pain. CONCLUSION: presence of pain is of concern and has association with female sex, lack of schooling/low schooling, worse level of health-related quality of life and presence of depressive symptoms.