Objectives: to analyze the quality of life of "patients" with Human Immunodeficiency Virus and relate it to their socioeconomic profile, knowledge and attitudes toward sexuality.
Method: crosssectional and analytical study with 201 individuals who are 50 years old or older. The Targeted Quality of Life and Aging Sexual Knowledge and Attitudes Scales were applied during interviews. Multiple Linear Regression was used in data analysis.
Results: dimensions of quality of life more strongly compromised were disclosure worries (39.0), sexual function (45.9), and financial worries (55.6). Scores concerning knowledge and attitudes toward sexuality were 31.7 and 14.8, respectively. There was significant correlation between attitudes and the domains of overall function, health worries, medication worries, and HIV mastery.
Conclusion: guidance concerning how the disease is transmitted, treated and how it progresses, in addition to providing social and psychological support, could minimize the negative effects of the disease on the quality of life of patients living with the Human Immunodeficiency Virus.