Comparison of levels of anxiety and depression between women and men living with HIV of a Mexico City clinic

Abstract

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.

Assessment of anxiety in Mexican persons living with HIV using a culturally-adapted version of the GAD-7 test

“…The percentage of participants with moderate to severe anxiety in this context was lower than those reported by other international studies, in which around 30% of PLWHA experienced moderate/severe symptoms according to GAD-7 (Mannes et al, 2021; Shacham et al, 2012). Indeed, a similar prevalence of moderate/severe anxiety has been previously reported by our group in Mexican PLWHA using a different screening tool ( Beck Anxiety Inventory ) (Caballero-Suárez et al, 2017). However, our results using the adapted GAD-7 were similar to previous findings in Mexico using GAD-7 in the general population (Carrillo Valdez et al, 2020).…”

Screening of Anxiety and Depression Related CD4 Count of People Living with HIV/AIDS with Anti-Retroviral in Medan, Indonesia

“…The average length of ARV treatment for PLWHA is 25.143 months with standards deviation 10.201. From a study conducted by Saurez N, and colleagues in 2017 in Mexico, said that anxiety symptoms and depression symptoms were associated with poor rates of ARV treatment in PLWHA, and also associated with poor virology control and lower CD4 cell counts [22].…”

Apoyo social y tipología familiar en mujeres diagnosticadas con VIH

“…Este rechazo social afecta de manera negativa en ambos sexos, pero en las mujeres tienen mayor impacto por su mayor dependencia de campo * y vulnerabilidad interpersonal" [4, p. 205]. Es importante destacar que las mujeres portadoras de VIH, en comparación a los hombres con esta condición, son más vulnerables a manifestar más síntomas de ansiedad y depresión [5].…”