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Background: There is a rise in the global HIV epidemic trend among elderly people however very limited HIV approaches in low- and middle-income countries target this group of patients. The aim of this study is to examine the impact of stigma, disclosure and antiretroviral therapy (ART) adherence on self-rated quality of life of elderly people living with HIV on ART in Uganda.

Methods: A Cross-sectional study was done using data from Uganda - SAGE well-being of older people study (WOPS), wave 2 data, a quantitative study which was conducted from February to September 2013. Upon review of the dataset Stigma, disclosure and anti-retroviral therapy adherence data were selected as predictor variables. Quality of life was the outcome variable. Simple and multivariable logistic regression were run to assess the impact of predictor variables (stigma, disclosure and ART adherence) on the quality of life.

Results: A total of 146 HIV positive elderly (50 years and older) men and women on antiretroviral therapy participated in the study, 59.6% were females and 40.4% were males. Statistical analysis failed to reveal any association between stigma, disclosure, ART adherence and quality of life.

Conclusions: All results from analysis were statistically unsignificant. Most of the studies done elsewhere, their findings deferred from these results. This may be attributed to the small sample size, study setting being a research site where patients are always under close observations. In addition to the HIV awareness campaigns organised by the Ministry of Health “OBULAMU PROJECT”. It is possible that HIV care services provided at MRC/UVRI contribute to low stigma, high disclosure, good ART adherence and to improved quality of life for elderly HIV positive individuals. This provides an insight to policy makers and health care providers of elderly people living with HIV on antiretroviral therapy (ART) working in other HIV centres. HIV care services provided at MRC/UVRI (centre of excellence) should be copied and extended to other HIV clinics, providing care to HIV elderly people since majority of their patients had a good quality of life although results were statistically unsignificant. In future, research should be done on a larger sample size (statistical power), on people who have been on ART for less than 6 months and using qualitative methodology to get in-depth information on the impact of stigma, disclosure and adherence on the quality of life of elderly people on ART.