%0 Journal Article
%T Social Support Network among People Living with HIV/AIDS in Iran
%A Ameneh Setareh Forouzan
%A Zahra Jorjoran Shushtari
%A Homeira Sajjadi
%A Yahya Salimi
%A Masoumeh Dejman
%J AIDS Research and Treatment
%D 2013
%I Hindawi Publishing Corporation
%R 10.1155/2013/715381
%X This study considers social network interactions as a potential source of support for individuals living with HIV/AIDS in Iran. This cross-sectional study was conducted on 224 people with HIV/AIDS who refer to behavioral counseling centers. Participants were randomly selected among all people with HIV/AIDS from these centers. Relatives were more reported as sources of support than nonrelatives. They were closer to participants, but there was difference between the closest type among relative and nonrelative supporters . Mean of functional support with considering the attainable range 0¨C384 was low . Social support of participants has been found to be associated with CD4 cell count , sex , and network size after adjusted for other variables in the final model. Totally, in this study, many of participants had the static social support network that contained large proportions of family and relatives. The findings contribute to the evidence for promotion of knowledge about social support network and social support of people living with HIV/AIDS. 1. Introduction AIDS is a disease that affects not only physical health but also mental and social conditions of patients because of the negative attitude of society, discrimination, and stigmatization [1¨C3] especially in the developing countries [4]. People living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) may experience social drift [5], changing pattern of sexual behaviors and self-image. They may lose employment, financial resources, and even family and friends as major sources of support [1, 3, 6]. Approximately 22727 cases of HIV/AIDS have been identified in Iran [7]. It is estimated that this number will increase to 106000 patients up to 2015 [8]. On the other hand, due to progress of antiretroviral therapy that increases life expectancy in patients [9], improvement of the quality of life in PLWHA is important [10, 11]. Previous studies suggested that social support can be an important factor for influences on well-being and quality of life [12, 13]. Researchers have been provided evidence that social support as an aspect of psychological adjustment [14] can improve physical and psychological health outcomes, increasing motivation for treatment [15], self-care behaviors [13], and also prevention of transmission of infection during HIV/AIDS disease [16¨C18]. Many PLWHA may facilitate living with HIV/AIDS by their social support networks (SSN). SSN as a subset of a larger social network, consisting of some individuals who are linked to ego and roles such as emotional support, financial aid, guidance, and advice offered to him/her in
%U http://www.hindawi.com/journals/art/2013/715381/