Social constructs and disease: Implications for a controlled vocabulary for HIV/AIDS

THE BODY OF KNOWLEDGE ASSOCIATED with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and the acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) represents complexity not present in any other disease. HIV infection is not only an extremely complicated disease process, but it also transcends the boundaries of biomedicine. Various domains shape the construction of HIV/AIDS as chronic disease with the societal construct circumscribing the body of knowledge concerning the pathological, mirroring the complexities of the malady itself. Disease, and the respective body of knowledge, co-exist within a social reality; consequently, a controlled vocabulary designed to facilitate knowledge organization and access relative to HIV/AIDS must reflect the complexities of this socially constructed reality.