The development of antiretroviral (ARV) drugs to treat HIV has turned what was once a death sentence into a chronic disorder. However, a focus on absence of disease in the form of an undetectable viral load and the dismissal of the so-called "cosmetic" complications of the disease ignores perceptions of health and well-being of those living with HIV. Facial lipoatrophy is a stigmatising side effect of treatment for HIV as it betrays the presence of the virus within the body. The study took a longitudinal qualitative approach, interviewing 11 people twice over a period of 1 year on their experience of living with HIV. Two participants were given cameras and asked to take photos which represented what it was like for them to live with this condition and were interviewed four times at four monthly intervals. This paper looks at one man's struggle to conceal or veil his facial lipoatrophy. His story is presented in the form of "selfies" and extracts from in-depth interviews. It tells of an emotional (ongoing) journey of frustration, anger, excitement, depression and resignation which had a profound effect on his sense of social and psychological well-being. This suggests a more holistic approach to treating people living with HIV is needed. While an undetectable viral load is indeed vital, it should not be seen as the only essential outcome of treatment.
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 4. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 01 October 2025.
All research outputs
#8,264,793
of 25,382,440 outputs
Outputs from Health & Social Care in the Community
#995
of 2,073 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#122,102
of 327,782 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Health & Social Care in the Community
#12
of 26 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 25,382,440 research outputs across all sources so far. This one has received more attention than most of these and is in the 66th percentile.
So far Altmetric has tracked 2,073 research outputs from this source. They typically receive more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 7.8. This one has gotten more attention than average, scoring higher than 50% of its peers.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 327,782 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one has gotten more attention than average, scoring higher than 61% of its contemporaries.
We're also able to compare this research output to 26 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has gotten more attention than average, scoring higher than 50% of its contemporaries.
