Objective To investigate the psychological experience of homosexual men with HIV/AIDS during the maintenance of their heterosexual marriage and their anti-viral treatment, in order to provide reference for optimization of whole-process management for AIDS.
Methods Quantitative investigation and qualitative interview were combined to carry out this study.A total of 267 homosexual and heterosexually married men with HIV/AIDS were selected for quantitative investigation by purposive sampling from Shanghai Public Health Clinical Center, Wuxi Fifth People′s Hospital in Jiangsu province and Hangzhou Xixi Hospital in Zhejiang province.In the qualitative interview, semi-structured interviews were conducted among 10 homosexual men with HIV/AIDS who had married wives.
Results In the quantitative investigation, the proportion of psychological stress, anxiety and depression in this population were 68.07%, 57.58%, and 92.50%, respectively.The survey results of qualitative interview were summarized into 6 main topics including 'self-discrimination and stress''worrying about the infection to his wife''pressure and also hope brought from marriage for treatment''depression resulted from unknowing how to get along with his wife'.
Conclusion The depression and anxiety of relationship with wife brings psychological pressure to homosexual men, which has an impact on their behaviors during the treatment.This specific population requires multi-disciplinary treatments and whole-process care.
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