Frequency with which psychiatric disorder associated with a positive HIV- serostatus as seen in persons attending a TASO Clinic in Mulago

RESUMO

The prevalence of HIV-1 infection among adults in Uganda is estimated to be about 12. However the rate and nature of psychological disorder among persons living with HIV/AIDS in Uganda is unknown.This study was therefore carried out to determine the nature and pattern of psychological disorder in HIV/AIDS. A total of 252 HIV-1 positive patients attending the specialised AIDS clinic at TASO Mulago had a physical examination and were interviewed using the General Health Questionnaire (GDQ-28). Forty eight percent of the patients fulfilled the criteria for AIDS related complex; 49.2for AIDS and 2.8 were asymptomatic according to WHO diagnostic criteria. At least 74 of the patients suffered from psychological disorder using a thershold cut off point of 5/6 on the GHQ-28The HIV clinical stage was significantly related to the overall psychological disorder (p=0.007); depression (p=0.01) and social dysfunction (p=0.02) but not anxiaety and somatic symptoms. At multivariant analysis the HIV clinical stage and the number of counselling sessions attended before the study were the two factors that had a significant effect on psychological disorder. Two other factors which had a significant association with psychological disorder namely age of the patient (p=0.04) and duration since HIV test was done (p=0.02) did not feature as significant factors at multivariant analysis. In conclusion HIV-1 infection appears to be associated with significant psychological morbidity. It appears that current counselling services do not adequately address personal psychological needs of people living with HIV/AIDS. There is therefore a need for further studies where the actual prevalence of psychological disorder; the specific psychiatric diagnoses; and hence the appropriate remedial measures can be determined