#72 STIGMA AND DEPRESSION AMONGST ADOLESCENTS LIVING WITH HIV/AIDS

Abstract

Abstract Background The Highly Active Anti-Retroviral Therapy (HAART) has revolutionized the face of treatment of People Living With HIV/AIDS (PLWHA). Perinatally infected infants are living longer, reaching adolescent age group with deaths reduced by 54% but in long term there exists many drawbacks not only in terms of adherence, complications, drug resistance but also in terms of mental health. Adolescence is a critical period to promote mental health as major mental health disorders seem to start during this period. Adolescents with HIV/AIDS are more prone to a variety of mental health problems. The stress of being infected and living with the disease is higher. These adolescents face unique psychosocial challenges and most importantly, the stigma of being sufferers of this disease. Because of stigma, very few individuals seek psychiatric care and very few further follow up even when therapy has proven benefits. Method OBJECTIVES: To assess the following in adolescents living with HIV/AIDS: 1. The proportion of stigma. 2. The proportion of depression. 3. Correlation between depression and stigma. 4. Correlation between CD4 count, stage of disease and duration of illness with stigma and depression. STUDY DESIGN: Cross sectional study PARTICIPANTS: 83 adolescents on ART treatment for minimum 1 year duration and are free from any psychiatric condition. INTERVENTION: Questionnaires were administered for assessment of stigma using HIV Felt Stigma Scale (is a 4-point likert scale, consisting of 17 questions and scores are namely Strongly disagree-0, Disagree-1, Agree-2, Strongly agree-3. and Depression by Centre for Epidemiological Studies-Depression Scale (is 20 item scale). Calculating the overall CES-D – style symptom score, target score for referring to psychiatrist is more than or equal to 16. Results The proportion of participants who scored positive in the stigma scale was 92.8% and that of depression was noted to be 20.5%. Statistically significant correlation was observed between stigma and depression (0.020), between depression and CD4 count (0.024). Conclusion The study demonstrates that a rise in stigmatising attitudes is linked to a rise in depressive symptoms, implying the necessity for multilevel treatments in stigma reduction initiatives to prevent the mental health issues in this vulnerable population.