ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Public Health
Sec. Public Mental Health
This article is part of the Research TopicExploring the Link Between Infectious Diseases and Mental HealthView all 6 articles
The Impact of Online and Offline Social Support on the Quality of Life of HIV/AIDS Patients: A Cross-Sectional Study
Provisionally accepted
- 1Xuzhou Center for Diseases Control and Prevention, Xuzhou, China
- 2Sixian People's Hospital, Suzhou, Anhui, China
- 3Xuzhou Medical University, Xuzhou, China
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Background: Online and offline social support may shape the quality of life (QoL) of people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA), yet their relative and joint contributions remain unclear. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional survey of 605 PLWHA in Xuzhou, gathering demographic data, subjective well-being, socioeconomic status, HIV/AIDS knowledge, offline and online social support, and QoL. Correlation analysis, multiple linear regression, and mediation-moderation models quantified associations. Results: Higher socioeconomic status, greater subjective well-being, richer HIV/AIDS knowledge, and stronger offline and online support independently predicted better QoL (all p < 0.05). Offline support showed a direct effect on QoL (β = 0.14, p < 0.001) and an indirect effect via online support (indirect β = 0.024, p < 0.05). Online support also improved QoL (β = 0.15, p < 0.001) but did not moderate the offline-QoL link (interaction β = 0.006, p > 0.05). Conclusion: Offline support boosts QoL both directly and by fostering online support, whereas online support alone confers additional benefit without buffering deficits in offline support. Integrating face-to-face and digital support is therefore crucial for optimising patient outcomes.
Keywords: Cross-sectional study, hiv/aids, Mediation analysis, Offline social support, Onlinesocial support, Quality of Life
Received: 20 Aug 2025; Accepted: 19 Nov 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Zhou, Sun, Chai, Zhou, Wang and Zhang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Yaodong Zhang, 100002012029@xzhmu.edu.cn
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