ISSN 2326-7291
International Journal of Public Health and Epidemiology (ISSN: 2169-303X) Vol. 2 (3), pp. 067-071, March, 2013. © International Scholars Journals
Full Length Research Paper
Perceived social support among the spouses of men living with HIV infection
Mohanarani Suhadev 1, Udaya Mahadevan2, Beena E Thomas1 & Soumya Swaminathan1
1National Institute for Research in Tuberculosis (Indian Council of Medical Research), Chennai, India.
2Loyola College, Chennai, India.
Accepted 13 February, 2013
Abstract
Social support is an important buffer for the spouses of HIV infected men. This paper aims to find out the support systems from three different sources namely relational, friends and professional for the women who are the family caregivers. The study included 201 women who accompanied their spouses and children to 3 hospitals at Chennai and Vellore, Tamilnadu, India, during January to June 2007. Social Support was measured by a 9 item scale used in the RAND Medical Outcome Study (Sherbourne & Stewart, 1991). Majority of the respondents were sero-positive (69%) and marriage was the only risk factor for them. Of 201 women, 122 (61%) reported that they disclosed their diagnosis of HIV to others and the scale measured different kinds of support namely companionship, intimacy and understanding and physical assistance. One fifth of the respondents did not get any support from others. About 59% of the respondents had someone to show love and affection and 46% had some persons to listen to them most or all of the time. But, they lacked persons to give them good advice and guide properly (41%). Most women caregivers of HIV infected men received social support mostly from their natal families and urban women enjoyed better social support.
Key words: Social Support, Spouses of HIV infected men, RAND Medical Outcome Study, Tamilnadu.