Introduction. Studies show that women with HIV have higher depression, anxiety symptoms and worse quality of life than men with HIV, but limited data on mental health status of people living with HIV (PLWH) is available in Mexico, hindering the development of specific mental health interventions. Objective. To compare the frequency and severity of depression and anxiety symptoms between men and women of a HIV specialized clinic of Mexico City. Method. Data were derived from a cross-sectional survey on condom use and serostatus disclosure carried out between 2012-2013. Data from Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) and sociodemographic characteristics were included in this study. Non-parametric tests were used to compare sociodemographic, clinical and psychological variables and odds ratio were calculated. Results. 291 PLWH were included, 13.1% (n = 38) were women. Significant differences between genders were found in sociodemographic variables (age, marital status, occupation, education, sexual orientation), but not in clinical variables. Depression symptoms were present in 45% of women versus 18.6% of men (x 2 = 13.17, p < .001) and anxiety symptoms were present in 47.4% of women and 30% of men (x 2 = 4.53, p = .033). In unadjusted analysis, women had 3.5 times higher risk than men of presenting depression symptoms (OR = 3.54, 95% CI = 1.61-7.65, p < .001) and 2 times higher risk of having anxiety symptoms than men (OR = 2.01, 95% CI = 0.98-4.42, p < .033). Discussion and conclusion. An important percentage of participants had depression and anxiety symptoms; women showed greater frequency and severity of symptoms as well as greater socioeconomic vulnerability. Mental health interventions are needed and should take into consideration the gender specific differences.

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Anxiety and depression in people living with HIV (PLWH) are negatively associated with healthy sexual behaviours. We pilot-tested a Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy (CBT)-based intervention to reduce anxiety and depression, aimed to increase serostatus disclosure to sexual partners, quality of sexual life (QoSL) and condom use. The study had a single-case experimental design (AB) with follow-up measures. Eleven PLWH with moderate/severe anxiety/depression received six-module CBT intervention delivered in ten one-hour individual weekly sessions. Anxiety, depression, consistent/correct condom use and QoSL were measured. Depression and anxiety decreased after the intervention (depression baseline [BL] Mdn = 21, final [F] Mdn = 3, z = -2.934, p = .003; anxiety BL Mdn = 30, F Mdn = 4, z = -2.941, p = .003). QoSL improved (BL Mdn = 28, F Mdn = 13, z = -2.625, p = .009), along with participants' ability to use condoms (57.14 vs.100, z = -2.937, p = .003). Effect size was large, changes were maintained at follow-up measurements. The CBT intervention had positive effects in reducing anxiety and depression, which could facilitate the acquisition of healthy sexual behaviours. Further studies are important to clarify the benefits of targeting emotional variables to improve wellbeing and prevention behaviours in PLWH.

Clinical follow-up in people living with HIV (PLWH) has individual and public health implications. The objectives of this study were to measure variables related to follow-up failures, identify self-reported reasons to maintain adequate follow-up or for having follow-up failures, and know how the pandemic influenced patients’ clinical follow-up. Participants were PLWH receiving HIV-health care at a hospital-based clinic in Mexico City which became an exclusive COVID-19 health service. Participants completed a telephone semi-structured interview and online psychological questionnaires. Lower educational and socioeconomic level, longer times of transportation to the clinic, being attended by different doctors, detectable viral load, having previous dropouts, inadequate antiretroviral adherence, and less HIV knowledge were related to follow-up failures. COVID-19 had a significant negative impact, but it also had positive repercussions for patients with adequate follow-up. These results could help develop effective psychosocial programs and improve healthcare in institutions to facilitate patient retention.

Our aim was to assess the severity of anxiety in PLWHA in Mexico City and obtain the psychometric properties of the culturally-adapted Spanish version of GAD-7. Thirteen percent of participants presented moderate to severe symptoms. Reliability (α = 0.82) and construct validity (single-factor explained 48.9% of variance) were evaluated in 411 participants. Confirmatory Factor Analysis was performed in a second sample of 527 participants. Model fit adequately (CFI = 0.991; CMIN/DF = 1.924; RMSEA = 0.042; and SRMR = 0.026). The adapted version of GAD-7 was adequate for the assessment of anxiety in Mexican PLWHA.