Depression in HIV-Positive Women in Gaborone, Botswana

Abstract

This cross-sectional study measured prevalence of depression and suicide ideation in 62 randomly selected HIV-positive (HIV+) women in Botswana, a resource-limited country at the center of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. They were administered two screening measures of depression, an inventory of activities of daily living (ADL), and subjective questionnaire of cognitive functioning. Results show that the two screening measures are useful for detecting depression in women infected with HIV in resource-limited countries. Diagnosis of depression is of great importance, not only clinically, but also to ensure judicious allocation of scarce medical resources in the regions worst affected by the HIV epidemic.

Acknowledgments

This research was supported by the Penn Center for AIDS Research (CFAR), an NIH-funded program (P30 AI 045008). The authors thank the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Botswana for permission to carry out this project and for helpful comments concerning the study design. We thank Dr. Sarah Ratcliffe for statistical analysis/interpretation and Katherine Steele and Rudo Nthobatsang for assistance administering the depression inventories, collecting clinical data, and data entry. Drs. Andrew Steenhoff and Rameshwari Thakur helped with the Setswana translations and IRB applications; Rosemarie Kappes assisted with IRB applications; Dr. Aaron T. Beck kindly provided permission to translate the BDI-FS; and Dr. Robert Heaton provided the modified ADL scale. We are in indebted to the staff at the IDCC at PMH for assistance enrolling patients, and Dr. Ava Avalos for suggesting interventions for depression.