Centre for Policy on Ageing



Symptom ambiguity among late-middle aged and older adults with HIV
Author(s)	Karolynn Siegel, Laura Dean, Eric W Schrimshaw
Journal title	Research on Aging, vol 21, no 4, July 1999
Pages	pp 595-618
Keywords	AIDS ; Symptoms ; Middle aged ; Young elderly ; Attitude ; Social surveys ; United States of America.
Annotation	The perception and evaluation of physical symptoms are central components of the illness and health appraisal process and affect subsequent health behaviours. This topic is explored within a study of the psychosocial adaptation of late-middle-aged and older HIV-infected men and women, aged 50 to 68. Transcripts of in-depth interviews were read by an interdisciplinary team of investigators to detect prevalent themes. Thematic analysis revealed that older people with HIV often expressed confusion in trying to understand the cause of their symptoms. This symptom ambiguity was because they could attribute symptoms to a variety of other plausible causes such as normal ageing, pre-existing conditions, or drug side effects in addition to HIV disease. Symptom ambiguity appears to lead to both confusion and psychological distress and may influence subsequent treatment behaviour. (RH).
Accession Number	CPA-990824242 A
Classmark	CQTT: CT: SE: BBA: DP: 3F: 7T
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...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing.