Background: In spite of the availability of Antiretroviral Therapy (ART), most people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) suffer from physical, social, environmental and clinical and treatment related symptoms that affect their quality of life. The objective of this study was to identify predictors of poor quality of life among people living with HIV in Jimma Zone Public Hospitals, Southwest Ethiopia 2018.

Objective: This study was to identify predictors of poor quality of life among people living with HIV in Jimma Zone Public Hospitals, Southwest Ethiopia 2018.

Methods: Institution based unmatched case control study was employed. We randomly selected 81 patients with poor quality of life (cases) and 242 with good quality of life (controls) considering 1:3 ratio of the cases to controls. Patients whose cards had incomplete data, pregnant women, and patients who had been transferred from other health institutions were excluded from the study. Data were entered into Epi-Data and analyzed using SPSS version 20. Qualitative data were collected from key informants composed of patients from rural and urban areas, male, fame, clinical care Servants, HAART coordinators, and case managers purposely selected, finally thematic  analyzed was made.

Results: a total of 81(25.1%) cases and 242 (75.9%) of controls included into the study. Those PLWHA who chew chat once/twice/month (AOR: 4.3; 95% CI: 1.01, 17.8) and at weakly intervals (AOR: 6.3, 95% CI: 2.0, 20.7) were more likely to have poor quality of life compared to those PLWHA who never chew. Stigmatism (AOR: 9.2; 95% CI: 3.5, 24.3), severe depression (AOR: 16.1; 95% CI: 5.2, 49.6),  poor baseline ART adherence (AOR: 6.4; 95% CI: 2.0, 20.7), baseline WHO stage III, IV (AOR 4.9, 95% CI: 2.0, 11.5), current WHO stage III, IV (AOR: 3.9; 95% CI: 1.1, 13.5), and majority of the in-depth interview findings were independently associated with poor quality of life.

Conclusion: Multiple predictors, poor base line ART adherence, base line and current WHO stage III, IV, being undernutrition at the beginning of ART, individuals with low hemoglobin level, Stigma and depression were independently associated. These findings point towards the need for further action research to clarify the mechanisms through which the factors identified here affect Quality of life, and to design possible interventions to improve their Quality of life  for  adult people living with HIV.

Key words: Adult, ART, Quality of life, HIV, HAART, predictors, People living with HIV