HIV Symptom Clusters Among Sexual Minority Men in Ghana, West Africa: A Cross-sectional Study

The aims of this study were to determine if HIV symptoms among sexual minority men formed clusters and to examine the sociodemographic and clinical characteristics that are associated with these clusters. We analyzed cross-sectional data from Ghanaian sexual minority men (N = 225) living with HIV. W...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inThe Journal of the Association of Nurses in AIDS Care
Main Authors Akyirem, Samuel, Tong, Guangyu, Aidoo-Frimpong, Gloria, Abwoye, Diana Namumbejja, López, Daniel Jacobson, Wilton, Leo, Nelson, LaRon E
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published United States 29.08.2024
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Summary:The aims of this study were to determine if HIV symptoms among sexual minority men formed clusters and to examine the sociodemographic and clinical characteristics that are associated with these clusters. We analyzed cross-sectional data from Ghanaian sexual minority men (N = 225) living with HIV. We used both principal component analysis and multivariable linear regression. Our findings indicate that sadness (64.0%) and headache (62.7%) were the most prevalent symptoms among our sample. Seven symptom clusters were identified: neurological symptoms, psychological symptoms, gastrointestinal symptoms, dermatological symptoms, self-concept/self-esteem, weight/diet-related symptoms, and sleepquality and potential disturbances. Late HIV diagnosis was significantly associated with higher distress scores for all symptom clusters except for the self-concept/self-esteem and gastrointestinal symptoms clusters. The findings emphasize the importance of early HIV symptom identification.
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ISSN:1055-3290
1552-6917
1552-6917
DOI:10.1097/JNC.0000000000000497