Prevalence and correlates of psychological distress of middle-aged and older women living with HIV

Abstract

The aims of this study were to examine the prevalence and correlates of psychological distress among older women living with HIV in comparison to their male counterparts and younger women and to identify the sociodemographic and disease-related factors associated with psychological distress. The sample consisted of 508 HIV-infected patients (65 older women, 323 women aged below 50 years, and 120 older men) recruited from 10 Portuguese hospitals. Data regarding psychological distress were collected using the Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI). Seven older women (10.8%), eight older men (6.7%), and 61 younger women (18.9%) reported a T-score ≥ 63 for global severity index (GSI), indicative of a need for further psychological evaluation. Overall, younger women reported significantly higher psychological distress than older men. The odds of having clinically significant psychological distress score were significantly lower for older women reporting sexual transmission, while for younger women, having other co-infections was a significant correlate of higher psychological distress. Younger women were 2.67 (95% CI: 1.22-5.84) times more likely to report psychological distress than were older men. The odds were not significantly different from older women. This study shows that older women do not differ substantially from younger women and older men in terms of psychological distress. The results reinforce, however, that mental health interventions should be tailored to reflect individuals' circumstances as well as developmental contexts. Moreover, they draw attention to the importance of examining resilience characteristics in older adults to understand the mechanisms behind 'successful ageing' while living with HIV.

Psychological symptoms of ordinary Chinese citizens based on SCL-90 during the level I emergency response to COVID-19

“…The GSI was considered the overall index of psychological symptoms in this study, which was calculated as the mean of all 90 items in SCL-90. For convenience, the raw GSI scores were converted into Tscore (mean = 50, SD = 10) (Monteiro et al, 2017). Participants with dimensions or GSI T-scores ≥ 63 were defined as having clinically significant psychological distress (high distress) (Derogatis and Spencer, 1993).…”

“…In this study, GSI T-scores ≥ 63 was considered as the high-risk group for psychological symptoms and GSI T-scores < 63 as was considered as the low-risk group for psychological symptoms with for further psychological evaluation. The GSI T-score threshold has been proven valid and reliable marker for identifying severe psychological condition that requires assessment and possible intervention, and it has been used extensively in psychological researches in recent years (Arneiro et al, 2018;Black et al, 1998;Fauerbach et al, 2007;Monteiro et al, 2017;Otte et al, 2017;Recklitis et al, 2017).…”

Psychological Status and Job Burnout of Nurses Working in the Frontline of the Novel Coronavirus in China During the Delta Variant Outbreak: A Cross-Sectional Survey

“…In the present study, we calculated and analyzed the total score of 90 items, the dimension scores, the Global Severity Index (GSI), 18 and the number of positive items of the SCL-90. The dimension score was calculated according to the formula: dimension score=the total score of the dimension/ the number of the dimension.…”

Determinan Psikologis Ibu Rumah Tangga dengan HIV (+) di Provinsi Kalimantan Tengah

“…Sejalan dengan penelitian Weldsilase et al (2018) bahwa usia, tempat tinggal, pendidikan, perkawinan dan status pekerjaan tidak memiliki hubungan dengan kualitas hidup wanita dengan HIV/ AIDS termasuk kualitas psikologi. Namun durasi penggunaan ART mempunyai hubungan signifikan dengan kualitas hidup secara keseluruhan, dimana durasi penggunaan ART yang lebih pendek memiliki kualitas hidup yang lebih baik (Monteiro et al, 2017). Dalam penelitian ini mayoritas responden telah didiagnosa HIV ≥ 3 tahun dan mengkonsumsi ART sejak didiagnosa HIV, yang mana sebagian besar memiliki kualitas psikologi yang buruk.…”

“…Penelitian Monteiro et al (2017) bahwa tidak ada perbedaan tekanan psikologis pada wanita lebih muda dan wanita yang tua, namun ada dugaan bahwa tekanan psikologis diakibatkan oleh riwayat transmisi HIV dari penggunaan IDU, sehingga ada korelasi terhadap obat atau zat yang digunakan sebelumnya terhadap kondisi psikologis penderita. Selain itu ditemukan bukti bahwa adanya koinfeksi tekanan psikologi pada wanita yang lebih muda disebabkan karena menderita penyakit Hepatitis C. Hal ini perlu diperhatikan karena adanya bukti hubungan postif antara tekanan psikologis dan kehadiran HIV dalam kombinasi dengan infeksi lain terutama Hepatitis C (Catz et al, 2002).…”