Abstract
IntroductionMental health problems are prevalent in adolescents living with HIV (ALHIV), often remain untreated, and may negatively affect antiretroviral therapy (ART) adherence and viral suppression. We implemented routine mental health screening at a paediatric ART clinic to improve the identification and management of mental health problems in ALHIV. In this report, we examine screening outcomes, associated patient characteristics and the odds of unsuppressed viral load in ALHIV screening positive for mental disorders.MethodsAdolescents aged 10 to 19 years attending Rahima Moosa Hospital in Johannesburg, South Africa between February 1, 2018, and January 1, 2020, were offered mental health screening at each routine HIV care visit. The screening included four pre‐screening questions followed by full screening (conditional on positive pre‐screening) for depression (Patient Health Questionnaire‐9 [PHQ‐9]), suicide (Adolescent Innovations Project [AIP]‐handbook), anxiety (Generalized Anxiety Disorder‐7 [GAD‐7]), post‐traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) (Primary Care PTSD Screen [PC‐PTSD‐5]) and substance use (CAGE Adapted to Include Drugs [CAGE‐AID]). We assessed screening outcomes and calculated adjusted odds ratios for associations between positive screening tests at the first screen and unsuppressed viral load (>400 copies/mL) at the measurement taken closest to the date of screening, within hundred days before and one day after screening.ResultsOut of 1203 adolescents who attended the clinic, 1088 (90.4%) were pre‐screened of whom 381 (35.0%) underwent full screening, 48 (4.4%) screened positive for depression (PHQ‐9 ≥10), 29 (2.8%) for suicidal concern, 24 (2.2%) for anxiety (GAD‐7 ≥10), 38 (3.2%) for PTSD (PC‐PTSD‐5 ≥3), 18 (1.7%) for substance use (CAGE‐AID ≥2) and 97 (8.9%) for any of these conditions. Positive screening for depression (aOR 2.39, 95% CI 1.02 to 5.62), PTSD (aOR 3.18, 95% CI 1.11 to 9.07), substance use (aOR 7.13, 95% CI 1.60 to 31.86), or any condition (aOR 2.17, 95% CI 1.17 to 4.02) were strongly associated with unsuppressed viral load.ConclusionsALHIV affected by mental health problems have increased rates of unsuppressed viral load and need specific clinical attention. The integration of routine mental health screening in paediatric ART programmes is a feasible approach for identifying and referring adolescents with mental health and adherence problems to counselling and psychosocial support services and if needed to psychiatric care.
Highlights
Mental health problems are prevalent in adolescents living with HIV (ALHIV), often remain untreated, and may negatively affect antiretroviral therapy (ART) adherence and viral suppression
The screening included four pre-screening questions followed by full screening for depression (Patient Health Questionnaire-9 [PHQ-9]), suicide (Adolescent Innovations Project [AIP]-handbook), anxiety (Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 [Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7 item (GAD-7)]), post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) (Primary Care PTSD Screen [PC-PTSD-5]) and substance use (CAGE Adapted to Include Drugs [CAGE-AID])
Positive screening for depression, PTSD, substance use, or any condition were strongly associated with unsuppressed viral load
Summary
In 2018, there were an estimated 1.6 million adolescents (aged 10 to 19 years) living with HIV (ALHIV) globally [1]. In addition to these biological mechanisms that link HIV and mental illness, several social and structural factors contribute to the poor mental health of ALHIV. Mental health and substance use problems including depression, anxiety, alcohol abuse and illicit drug use can adversely affect adherence to antiretroviral therapy (ART) [26,27,28,29]. Such problems may lead to poor HIV treatment outcomes including unsuppressed viral load, loss to follow-up and premature mortality [30]. We describe mental health screening outcomes of ALHIV screened between February 1, 2018, and January 1, 2020, and examine associated patient characteristics, and the increase in the odds of unsuppressed viral load in ALHIV screening positive for a mental disorder
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