Using PozQoL in research

Image from ViiV Healthcare and Shutterstock’s HIV in View collection

Discover how PozQoL is transforming quality-of-life research for people living with HIV (PLHIV) worldwide

PozQoL is a validated quality-of-life (QoL) scale designed specifically for PLHIV. With its concise 13-item structure, PozQoL provides insights into the wellbeing of individuals across four domains: health concerns, psychological, social, and functional. The scale has been widely adopted in diverse research contexts, from small-scale community studies to large cohort analyses, making it a reliable and flexible tool for academics, public health professionals, and clinicians.

Why use PozQoL in your research?

PozQoL offers several benefits for researchers:

  • HIV-specific focus: Unlike general QoL tools, PozQoL is tailored to reflect the lived experiences of PLHIV
  • Concise yet comprehensive: Its 13-item format ensures ease of administration while maintaining depth of insight
  • Empirically validated: The English and Turkish versions of PozQoL have undergone empirical validation
  • Professional translations: PozQoL is available in more than 30 professionally translated versions
  • Used globally: PozQoL has been used in diverse settings, including Australia, Romania, Spain, South Korea, and New Zealand
  • Flexible integration: Use PozQoL as a standalone tool or alongside other patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) for more comprehensive insights

Is PozQoL right for your research?

PozQoL may be the right tool if your study:

  • Focuses on the lived experiences of PLHIV
  • Requires a concise, user-friendly QoL measure
  • Needs a tool that complements other measures, such as stigma indices, mental health scales, or general PROMs like EQ-5D

Opportunities for researchers

We invite researchers to contribute to the growing body of knowledge around PozQoL by conducting studies such as:

  • Further validation studies: Build on existing evidence by testing PozQoL in new languages, populations, and contexts
  • Usability and sensitivity studies: Explore how effectively PozQoL performs in diverse settings and assess its ability to detect changes in QoL over time
  • Implementation studies: Evaluate how PozQoL can be integrated into health, community, and peer support services to improve care for PLHIV

🟡 PozQoL stories from research

PozQoL has been integrated into diverse research methodologies, offering researchers opportunities to explore its use in data collection, scoring, and statistical analysis. Whether you’re developing research protocols or designing studies to interpret PozQoL results, this scale can be tailored to your needs.

Discover how other researchers have applied PozQoL to:

  • Study aging with HIV and its impacts on quality of life
  • Investigate links between stigma, financial insecurity, and wellbeing
  • Evaluate interventions like cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and peer-led support programs
  • Inform national and state HIV policy and strategic planning

Explore the latest research stories below.

Enhancing HIV care in South Korea: a nurse-delivered cognitive behavioural therapy program using PozQoL

Dec 17, 20244 min read
In South Korea, a nurse-led program combined cognitive behavioural therapy with PozQoL to address mental health care for people living with HIV.

Understanding quality of life for people living with HIV: A tale of two countries

Nov 27, 20244 min read
Understanding quality of life for people living with HIV: A tale of two countries
Discover how PozQoL revealed key quality of life challenges for PLHIV in Romania and Spain, highlighting differences between two distinct populations.

PozQoL informs the Australian National HIV Strategy through the HIV Futures Study

Sep 3, 20213 min read
PozQoL informs the Australian National HIV Strategy through the HIV Futures Study
HIV Futures is a survey of QoL among PLHIV in Australia. Project lead, Dr Jennifer Power, talks about the study, and about how PozQoL helps this research.

Supporting ageing with HIV: PozQoL reveals key insights into quality of life among older adults living with HIV in the USA

Sep 18, 20203 min read
The ADHOC study with older adults living with HIV in the USA used PozQoL, allowing researchers to uncover key insights into mental health, stigma, loneliness, and social support.

Aotearoa New Zealand study using PozQoL to help understand HIV stigma and discrimination

Sep 14, 20201 min read
Researchers are using PozQoL to help describe PLHIV experiences of stigma and discrimination in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Quick links: Tools and resources for researchers using PozQoL