The Impact of AIDS-Associated Wasting on Quality of Life: Qualitative Issues of Measurement and Evaluation

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Abstract
In 1987, wasting was designated an AIDS-defining condition by the Centers for Disease Control (Centers for Disease Control 1987). Defined conventionally as the involuntary loss of 10% or more of one's premorbid weight, wasting has been observed as a primary feature of HIV disease since the first reports were filed documenting the clinical manifestations of this condition. The prevalence of wasting was reported to be approximately 17% through 1989 (Fleming et al. 1991); however, more recent clinical trials have documented that as many as 50% of people enrolled in AIDS studies have been found to have involuntary weight loss in excess of 10% of premorbid weight. The most recent reports find that wasting ranks as the second most frequent initial AIDS-defining condition in the United States and is diagnosed with equal frequency in men and women (Nahlen et al. 1993). As a cause of death wasting has increased from 3.6% to 13.7% during the period 1984-1995 as compared with pneumocystis carinii pneumonia which decreased from 28.6% to 3.8% (Kravik et al. 1997).