TITLE:
A Comparison of Clinical Features of Depressed and Non-Depressed People Living with HIV/AIDS, in Nigeria, West Africa
AUTHORS:
Rasaki O. Shittu, Baba A. Issa, Ganiyu T. Olanrewaju, Abdulraheem O. Mahmoud, Sunday A. Aderibigbe, Louis O. Odeigah
KEYWORDS:
Clinical Features; Depressed; Non-Depressed; HIV/AIDS; Nigeria
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Medical Psychology,
Vol.3 No.1,
January
13,
2014
ABSTRACT: Objectives: Depressive disorders are a significant public health issue. They are prevalent, disabling, and often chronic, with a high economic burden to the society. Depressive illness is the most common psychiatric disorder in HIV/AIDS with prevalence 2 to 4 times higher than the general population. It’s still questionable whether HIV related depression is clinically different from sero-positive patients without depression. Studies comparing the clinical features of depressed and non-depressed People Living with HIV/AIDs are limited, hence the need for this study. Methods: This was a hospital based, cross sectional, descriptive study of three hundred adult HIV/AIDS patients attending the HIV clinic of Kwara State specialist hospital, Sobi, Ilorin. The PHQ-9 was administered to the respondents to screen for depression. A pre-tested PHQ-9 questionnaire was used to collect data. Subject who scored one and more were assessed clinically for depression. The three keys of social determinants of depression (SDS) were assessed and the association with depression sought. Results: One hundred and seventy (56.7%) satisfied the criteria for a depressive disorder using the PHQ-9 score. Compared to non-depressed sero-positive patients, depressed HIV patients were more likely to be female, single, unemployed, with below average year of schooling, low social economic status, low social cohesion and more stressful life events. They are more prone to hopelessness, thought of taking life and plan to commit suicide. Conclusion: These findings, show that the clinical and associated features of depression differ between depressed and non-depressed sero-positive subjects, thus requiring different management.