Pain as a Symptom in Patients Living With HIV/AIDS Seen at the Outpatient Clinic of a Nigerian Tertiary Hospital

Abstract

Although the negative impact of pain on the quality of life of patients living with HIV has been documented in many Western studies, there is a paucity of data on pain in HIV-infected patients in Nigeria in spite of a large disease burden. We studied the frequency of pain as a symptom and determined the body regions often affected among our cohort of patients attending the antiretroviral (ARV) clinic. An interviewer-administered questionnaire was used to obtain information on presence of pain in the 2 weeks before the interview. Those with pain were further screened with the modified Brief Pain Inventory. There were 79 respondents-40.5% males, mean age 37.1 ± 8.6 years. Pain was present in 22 (27.8%) of the respondents. The major regions affected by pain were lower limbs (40.9%), head and neck (31.8%), and abdomen (31.8%). Only 40% of those with moderate to severe pain intensity reported being on any form of analgesia.