ABSTRACT
Background: PLHIV often suffer from depression and anxiety during their quest to adjust to the diagno-sis and face the difficulties of living with a chronic illness, of which permanent cure is yet to be discov-ered. Positive people network linkages should be established by each ART centre for its respective locali-ty. The objective of the study is to assess depression among HIV positive beneficiaries registered with Network of Surat People Living with HIV (NSP+) in Surat. Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted among 30 PLHIV on ART from Network of Surat People Living with HIV (NSP+). Beck Depression Inventory was applied to assess depression. Results: The mean BDI score among male and female participants was 25.6 (± 11.39) and 23 (± 12) re-spectively, 9 male participants were having moderate depression, 3 as severe, and 2 as extreme depres-sion. Among females 4 participants were found to having mild mood disturbance while 4 were classified as having moderate depression, whereas only 1 participant was classified as having extreme depression (score of 53). Pearson’s correlation between CD4 count and BDI score was found to be -0.35. Conclusion: Though majority of the participants are in WHO clinical stage 1, yet all the participants had borderline to extreme depression. Males had lower CD4 count, higher proportion of OI and higher mean score of BDI. Lower the CD4 count higher the severity of depression.