Anxiety and Depression Among Women Living with HIV: Prevalence and Correlations

Abstract

Introduction: It has been found that HIV positive women are becoming increasingly affected by various illnesses, including Common Mental Disorders (CMDs) such as depression. Such comorbidity escalates the disease progression to the severe stage and commonly hinders treatment adherence. This study determined the prevalence of anxiety and depression amidst women living with HIV. Methods: Based on a cross-sectional and facility-based study, 357 HIV positive women were recruited using the systematic sampling technique from two public hospitals in Jijiga town, Ethiopia. The Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) was administered for screening, and followed by a pre-tested questionnaire that comprised of Perceived Social Support and HIV stigma. Results: The results revealed that the prevalence of both anxiety and depression amidst HIV positive women was 28.9% and 32.5%, respectively. In the multivariate analysis, it was discovered that lack of formal education, being divorced, unemployed, and earning a monthly income less than 1400 ETB (37.5 USD) were significantly associated with depression. Women with symptomatic HIV clinical stage III (AOR =2.06, 95% C.I (0.75-5.61), with CD4 cell count below 250 (AOR = 1.14, 95% C.I (0.57-2.28), and with co-infections (AOR= 1.04, 95% C.I (0.40-2.71) also suffered from depression. Conclusion: The study outcomes show that the prevalence of depression in women with HIV was 32.5%, but they were more likely to be depressed if they were illiterate, divorced, unemployed or had a financial burden. In addition, HIV positive women with less CD4 cell count and in the final clinical stage or suffered from a co-infection were also associated with depressive symptoms. This signifies the public health implications of psychological and cognitive morbidities of the illness among these women with chronic illnesses. Hence, future mental health interventions and HIV care should be integrated with substantial emphasis given to vulnerable groups, including HIV positive women.

Comparison of Anxiety and Depression Among HIV-Positive and HIV-Negative Pregnant Women During COVID-19 Pandemic in Ekiti State, Southwest Nigeria

“…34 These prevalence rates are far less than 49.5% found among HIV-positive pregnant women but slightly higher than 21.2% found among HIV-negative pregnant women in this study. Studies from other African countries among HIV-positive pregnant women by Ngocho et al 32 and Yousuf et al 25 conducted before the COVID-19 found a prevalence of depression and anxiety (25% and 24.3%) and (32.5% and 28.9%) in Tanzania and Ethiopia respectively. The prevalence of depression and anxiety found in these studies was far less than in our study conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic.…”

“… 23 , 24 Expectedly, pregnant HIV-positive women will have a heightened rate of anxiety and depression. 25 , 26 The current escalating COVID-19 pandemic may worsen this. This study investigated the prevalence of depression and anxiety among pregnant HIV-positive women during the COVID-19 pandemic.…”

Atrazine Inhalation Worsen Pulmonary Fibrosis Regulating the Nuclear Factor-Erythroid 2-Related Factor (Nrf2) Pathways Inducing Brain Comorbidities

“…This is likely attributable to 1) decreased treatment compliance in depressed patients; 2) a worsened sense of dyspnea in depressed and anxious patients, which may result in greater hospital admissions; and 3) a sad and/or anxious patient's ability to cope with a chronic disease. On the other hand, cognitive problems are associated with worsening of the disease progression, which leads to an infinity loop until death [139][140][141][142][143][144][145][146][147][148][149]. Considering the severity of the worsened symptoms, the treatment for such brain comorbidities requires further investigations [150].…”

Mental health challenges and the associated factors in HIV-positive women who have children living with HIV in Indonesia: A qualitative study

“…Existing evidence has suggested that HIV in women in general leads to a range of mental health challenges, including stress, anxiety, depression, sadness and embarrassment [5][6][7][8][9][10]. The stressors for these mental health issues in WLHIV vary and include advanced stage of HIV infection, weakened physical condition, and the fear of a breach of the confidentiality of their HIV status, which may cause further negative impacts on themselves and their family [9][10][11][12][13][14].…”