Risk factors for depressive symptoms by age group among human immunodeficiency virus-infected adults in Korea

ABSTRACT

We identified factors associated with depressive symptoms according to age group. We used data from a city-wide, cross-sectional survey conducted by the Seoul Metropolitan Government in 2014. Multivariable logistic regression analyses were performed to explore factors related to depressive symptoms. Depressive symptoms were assessed using a single item from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Of the 370 subjects, 37.3% had depressive symptoms during the past 12 months. Compared to an age of ≥50 years, being 20–39 (adjusted odds ratio, 2.45; 95% confidence interval, 1.26–4.75) or 40–49 years (2.58; 1.32–5.06) of age was positively associated with depressive symptoms. In addition, a history of acquired immune deficiency syndrome-defining opportunistic disease (3.29; 1.09–9.92) and perceived discrimination (1.93; 1.16–3.20) in subjects aged 20–39 years, and poor subjective health (4.97; 1.42–17.32) in subjects aged 40–49 years, were associated with depressive symptoms, but no factor exhibited a significant association in subjects aged ≥ 50 years. In conclusion, a screening program that considers the factors identified in this study to prioritize patients with depression should be implemented.

KEYWORDS:

• Human immunodeficiency virus infection
• depression
• Korea

Acknowledgements

We are grateful to the survey respondents, and to the staff of the 25 Public Health Centers in Seoul for their assistance with data acquisition.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This study was supported by the Ewha Womans University scholarship of 2019.