Assessment of Hunger and Appetite and Their Relationship to Food Intake in Persons With HIV

Assessments of hunger and/or appetite are common methods of screening for development of illnessrelated anorexia. There are limited data to determine whether these methods predict actual food intake in persons with HIV disease. Therefore, the authors examined the relationship between self-reported food intake and subjective ratings of hunger and appetite in 31 adults with HIV infection. Participants also indicated presence of additional factors that can decrease amount of food eaten. Subjective ratings of appetite and hunger correlated with each other but not with food intake. Twenty-four additional factors that can affect food intake were reported to be present. The most common were illness-related and factors such as eating with friends or family. These results indicate that measures of hunger and appetite are not sufficient to screen for decreased food intake. Additional factors that can affect food intake should also be included in a comprehensive assessment of adults with HIV infection.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/69210/1/Assessment of Hunger and Appetite and Their Relationship to Food Intake in Persons with HIV Infections.pd

The medical, personal, and social causes of uncertainty in HIV illness

Uncertainty is an important part of the illness experience. Mishel elaborated a theory of uncertainty in acute illness and later expanded the framework to account for uncertainty in chronic illness. Researchers subsequently have investigated the causes and outcomes associated with the uncertainty in illness experience across a variety of medical conditions. The current study applies and extends Mishel\u27s model within the context of HIV illness-related uncertainty. In this qualitative study, focus group methods were used to examine the nature of illness uncertainty experienced by persons living with HIV or AIDS. Findings confirm Mishel\u27s contention that the causes of uncertainty extend beyond those of medical diagnosis, treatment, and recovery to personal and social aspects of daily life. Identified sources of uncertainty may have important mental health and quality of life implications