High prevalence of psychiatric and substance use disorders among persons seeking treatment for HIV and other STIs in Jamaica: a short report

ABSTRACT

This cross-sectional study explored the range of psychiatric and substance use disorders and unmet need for mental health care among 84 HIV-positive and 44 HIV-negative public clinic attendees in Jamaica. We used a brief interviewer-administered diagnostic tool, the Client Diagnostic Questionnaire. Two-thirds (65.6%) screened positive for at least one psychiatric disorder; 30.5% screened positive for multiple disorders. The most common disorders were post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) (41.4%), alcohol abuse (22.7%), and depressive disorders (21.9%). One in fourteen (7.1%) participants with at least one diagnosis received care in the last 6 months. Adjusting for age and sex, PTSD was associated with non-adherence to antiretroviral treatment (AOR = 5.32), anxiety disorders (AOR = 5.82), depression (AOR = 4.29), and suicidal ideation (AOR = 8.17). Psychiatric and substance use disorders, particularly PTSD, were common among STI/HIV clinic attendees in Jamaica. Such clinics may be efficient places to screen, identify, and treat patients with psychiatric disorders in low- and middle- income countries.

KEYWORDS:

• STI Patients
• PLHIV
• Trauma
• PTSD
• mental health and HIV

Acknowledgements

We thank our research assistants, Marsha Gooden and Maxsalia Salmon, for their exceptional work interviewing research participants and engaging clinic staff. We would also like to thank STI clinic patients and staff for their support of this study. And, we thank Dr. Willi McFarland, UCSF, for providing comments on this paper.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

ORCID

Sharlene Beckford Jarrett http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7463-3140

Additional information

Funding

This research was supported by The World Bank to the National HIV/STI Programme, Ministry of Health, Jamaica (Loan# 7556JM).