Socioeconomic disadvantage increasing risk for depression among recently diagnosed HIV patients in an urban area in Brazil: cross-sectional study

Abstract

Depression is the most common psychiatric co-morbidity among people living with HIV (PLHIV), with prevalence rates ranging from 25% to 36%. Depression impacts negatively upon adherence and response to combined antiretroviral therapy (CART) and the transmission of HIV infection through increased sexually risky behavior. This cross-sectional study presents data from a reference HIV-outpatient service in Dourados (Brazil) that evaluated the association between depressive symptoms, health-related quality of life, and clinical, socioeconomic, and demographic factors in newly diagnosed HIV/AIDS patients. Using the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), the prevalence of depressive symptoms was 61% with a predominance of self-deprecating and cognitive-affective factors. Depressive symptoms were associated with lower income (p = 0.019) and disadvantaged social class (p = 0.005). Poorer quality of life was related to depressive symptoms (p < 0.0001), low educational level (p = 0.05), and lower income (p = 0.03). These data suggest that socioeconomic factors, including level of income and education, are mediating the risk of depression and poor quality of life of PLHIV. Possible explanations for this effect are discussed, including the possible role of stigma.

Keywords:

• HIV
• AIDS
• depression
• prevalence
• Brazil

Acknowledgments

We thank the Programa Ciências Sem Fronteiras (Science Without Borders Program, CSF) and the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (Coordination of Improvement of Higher Education Personnel, CAPES) programs of the Federal Government of Brazil for assistance through their support of the projects registered under the process numbers 23038.009819/2012-52 and 472044/2012.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.