HIV in Gujarat: An Exploration of Religious Coping Strategies and Quality of Life

The present study investigated the relationships between religious coping strategies (positive and negative) and six quality of life domains (physical, psychological, independence, social, environment, and spiritual) in 160 HIV-infected patients in Gujarat, India. Data were collected from patient interviews at a public, university-based hospital in Surat. Participants with lower annual incomes used religious coping more often (≤0.01). Positive religious coping subscribers (34.4%) were more likely to have been infected recently (OR, 3.07; 95% CI, 1.19–7.95). After controlling for associated variables, all religious coping strategies were associated with a better quality of life in the following domains: physical, psychological, independence and environment (p 0.05). These results have implications for designing future religious coping interventions and for helping healthcare professionals assess religious coping in HIV/AIDS patients.