Barriers to health-care and psychological distress among mothers living with HIV in Quebec (Canada)

Abstract

Health-care providers play a major role in providing good quality care and in preventing psychological distress among mothers living with HIV (MLHIV). The objectives of this study are to explore the impact of health-care services and satisfaction with care providers on psychological distress in MLHIV. One hundred MLHIV were recruited from community and clinical settings in the province of Quebec (Canada). Prevalence estimation of clinical psychological distress and univariate and multivariable logistic regression models were performed to predict clinical psychological distress. Forty-five percent of the participants reported clinical psychological distress. In the multivariable regression, the following variables were significantly associated with psychological distress while controlling for sociodemographic variables: resilience, quality of communication with the care providers, resources, and HIV disclosure concerns. The multivariate results support the key role of personal, structural, and medical resources in understanding psychological distress among MLHIV. Interventions that can support the psychological health of MLHIV are discussed.

Keywords:

• mothers living with HIV
• psychological distress
• barriers to care
• stigma
• resilience

Acknowledgment

The authors wish to thank the families, the community-based organizations, and the clinics who took part in this project.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research [grant number 209155].