Prevalence and related factors of depressive symptoms among HIV/AIDS in Ningbo, China: A cross-sectional study

Abstract

BackgroundDepressive symptoms were common among HIV/AIDS patients. Previous studies had shown that HIV-infected patients were twice as likely to be diagnosed with depression as the general population. However, only few studies have explored the prevalence and related factors of depressive symptoms among HIV/AIDS in China.Materials and methodsA cross-sectional study was conducted to study the prevalence of depressive symptoms among HIV/AIDS from January to December 2021 through the database of HIV/AIDS antiretroviral therapy and psychological evaluation system in Ningbo, China. The Patient Health Questionnaire-2 (PHQ-2) was used to screen for depressive symptoms (PHQ-2 > 0), the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) was used to diagnose depressive symptoms, and multivariate Logistic regression model was carried on to evaluate the related factors.ResultsA total of 3,939 HIV/AIDS patients were enrolled, and the age of initiation of antiretroviral therapy was 37.15 (IQR = 28.41–48.73) years. Among them, 3,230 (82.00%) were male, 3,844 (97.59%) were Han nationality, 1,391 (35.49%) were unmarried, 1,665 (42.27%) were homosexual transmission, and 2,194 (55.70%) were HIV-infected patients. There were 265 patients (6.73%) with depressive symptoms, and the proportion of mild, moderate, moderate and severe depressive symptoms was 4.01% (158/3939), 1.65% (65/3939), 0.76% (30/3939), and 0.30% (12/3939), respectively. Multivariate analysis showed that married [odds ratio (OR) = 0.675, 95% CI = 0.501–0.908], divorced or widowed (OR = 0.571, 95% CI = 0.380–0.860), homosexual transmission (OR = 1.793, 95% CI = 1.349–2.396) were associated with depressive symptoms among HIV/AIDS.ConclusionThe prevalence of depressive symptoms among HIV/AIDS patients was 6.73% in Ningbo, China. More attention should be paid to the psychological status of unmarried and homosexual HIV/AIDS patients in Ningbo and timely psychological intervention or treatment should be given to those patients with depressive symptoms.

Profiles of depressive symptoms and influential factors among people living with HIV in China

“…Higher total scores indicate more severe depressive symptoms. The PHQ-9 has demonstrated acceptable psychometric properties in the PLWH population [ 22 , 23 ], and the questionnaire is widely used in studies of Chinese PLWHs [ 20 , 24 ]. In the present study, the Cronbach’s α was 0.92.…”

Depressive Symptoms among People Living with HIV Attending ART Centers of Lumbini Province, Nepal: A Cross-Sectional Study

“…With longer ART initiation duration and experiencing the benefits of ART drugs, HIV patients may feel more normal regarding their disease status, have lower stress levels, and have decreased depressive symptoms. However, previous studies conducted in China, Bhutan, Ethiopia, and Cameroon [ 9 , 22 , 32 , 39 ] did not show any association. This could be because of the different cutoff points used for the duration of ART initiation.…”

“…Although Nepal has made substantial progress in its HIV prevention program by reducing the HIV incidence per 1000 population from 0.08% in 2010 to 0.02 in 2021 and increasing the number of ART sites from 2 in 2004 to 84 in 2022 [ 8 ], the mental health dimension of people living with HIV (PLHIV) often goes unnoticed and unaddressed. The global prevalence of depression among PLHIV ranges from 6.73% to 89.9% [ 9 , 10 ]. A recent meta-analysis study revealed the pooled prevalence of depression in PLHIV to be 31%, with the highest prevalence of 40% in the Southeast Asia region [ 11 ].…”

Relación entre ansiedad, depresión y linfocitos T CD4+ en pacientes con virus de inmunodeficiencia humana (VIH) en un hospital general de Lima*

“…Entre ellos, el 71,5 % fue del sexo masculino; 86,1 % fue soltero; y el 25 % tenía secundaria completa. Resultados similares fueron obtenidos en otras investigaciones (8,22,23). Sin embargo, Olatayo et al (24) obtuvieron resultados diferentes en una muestra de pacientes con VIH de Nigeria, ya que asignaron un mayor porcentaje para mujeres (73,8 %), estado civil casado (76,2 %) y nivel de educación superior (58,7 %).…”