Prevalence of Depression and Anxiety Disorders in People Living with HIV/AIDS in a Tertiary Hospital in South Western Nigeria

Abstract

Background: In sub-Saharan Africa, HIV/AIDS constitutes a major burden with its attendant mental health related challenges. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of depression and anxiety disorder among HIV patients attending a tertiary institution in south western Nigeria. Method: A cross-sectional study conducted among HIV patients attending HIV/AIDS clinic of the Ekiti State University Teaching Hospital, Ado-Ekiti, Nigeria. A semi-structured questionnaire was administered to collect socio-demographic characteristics with the incorporation of Hospital anxiety depression questionnaire to assess the prevalence of depression and anxiety in the study and control groups. Results: A total of 424 HIV positive study participants were recruited. A corresponding age and sex matched 429 control subjects were also enrolled. The mean age of HIV positive patients and controls are 42.2 ± 9.5 years and 43.4 ± 12.4 years respectively. There was a female prepondence among both study populations. The prevalence of depression among PLHIV was 39.6% whereas depression was lower in the (22.0%) control group. Likewise anxiety was reported in PLHIV and control group as 32.6% and 28.7% respectively. Female gender, illiteracy, being divorced/widowed, unemployed and low income and low CD4 count were associated with depression while factors associated with anxiety disorder included lower age, female gender, low income, and low CD4 count. Conclusion: The prevalence of depression and anxiety are high in the HIV patients, hence proper integration of mental health care into the HIV programme is inevitable to give patients holistic care.