Frequently asked questions

We assess commercial use on a case-by-case basis. Please contact us with a brief description of how you are planning to use PozQoL. We will contact you to discuss further. Depending on the nature of your intended use, we may require that you enter into a contract with the University of NSW and pay a contribution to the PozQoL project.

Please see our terms of use for more information.

You do not need permission to use PozQoL for non-commercial purposes. If you are unsure whether your use is commercial or not, please contact us with a brief description of how you are planning to use PozQoL. We will assess your planned use against our criteria for commercial use and let you know.

Please see our terms of use for more information.

Yes! PozQoL has been translated into a range of languages. Visit the PozQoL scale and tools page for a full list.

In our PozQoL Stories, you can read about how people have used PozQoL in languages other than English.

Please note: At this time, only the English version of the scale has been tested for reliability and sensitivity. It was tested on an Australian sample.

Yes! PozQoL is free for non-commercial use. If you are considering using PozQoL for commercial purposes, please contact us to discuss your requirements.

Please see our terms of use for more information.

‘Poz’ is a colloquial term that refers to people living with HIV (PLHIV). It is common in a number of English-speaking countries. Peer-based PLHIV organisations, especially, use it a lot.

It is a play on words that comes from 2 meanings of the word ‘positive’ in English:

1. If something is positive, it is good, constructive, optimistic, confident, desirable
2. A person who is “HIV positive” is a person who has HIV

So, when we use ‘Poz’ to talk about PLHIV, we mean it in the spirit of empowerment and self-determination.

QoL is short for ‘quality of life’

So, overall, PozQoL means good quality of life for people living with HIV.

We recommend that you use the exact wording provided.

PozQoL is a validated scale. Changing the wording of any of the items would mean the reliability and validity could no longer be counted on, and you would not be able to calculate PozQoL scores with confidence.

We recommend that you use the exact wording provided.

Changing or adding nuance to the instructions or introductory text may create a risk of influencing responses, which may decrease their reliability.

We have tested PozQoL in both paper and electronic format and it appears to make no difference to the validity of the results.

It is up to you how you would like to administer PozQoL. The best choice for you will depend on practical considerations, such as:

• Whether respondents will be more comfortable filling out the PozQoL survey in one format over the other
• How you intend to collate, store, and analyse the information

There are currently three (3) options of tools that will automatically calculate PozQoL scores:

• Simple calculator — this spreadsheet calculates PozQoL scores for one person at a time
• Pre-Post calculator — this spreadsheet calculates and compares baseline and follow-up group PozQoL Scores
• ViiV Healthcare’s PozQoL Digital Tool — this online tool allows people to complete PozQoL online and print a pdf copy of their responses and scores

For more information about available tools, visit our PozQoL scale and tools page

The information on this website — in particular our using PozQoL information and the PozQoL implementation kit — were designed to support you to use PozQoL. If you find this information insufficient, please let us know how we can improve these resources.

We can answer simple questions; however, we currently have limited resources to provide free support or guidance for using PozQoL. If you need more in-depth support, please reach out to discuss your needs and the potential for funded research collaborations or consultancy support.

PozQoL Stories showcase real-world examples of PozQoL being used in different contexts. They are written by the people who have used, or who are using, PozQoL.

The thresholds tables on the interpreting PozQoL scores page are based on PozQoL studies of 465 adults (aged 18 and older) living with HIV in Australia.

HIV Futures uses PozQoL as part of their national study about quality of life of people living with HIV in Australia. Once HIV Futures 10 data analysis is complete, we will update these tables with more recent data from a larger sample of people.