Major depressive disorder among patients receiving antiretroviral treatment in a social hygiene clinic: Prevalence, associated factors and effects on quality of life

ABSTRACT

Objectives@#The current study aimed to determine the prevalence of depression among patients who received antiretroviral treatment; describe the sociodemographic and clinical factors associated with Major Depressive Disorder; as well as compare the quality of life among those with and without the co morbid psychiatric illness.@*Methodology@#A descriptive study was performed at a local hygiene clinic. Sociodemographic and clinical data were gathered, using the Patient Health Questionnaire 9 (PHQ-9) for screening depression and confirmed by Mental Status Exam (MSE). Quality of life assessment was done through WHOQOL-HIV BREF questionnaire.@*Results@#Of the 130 respondents, 31 (23.85%) subjects were assessed to have depression. Among the different sociodemographic and clinical factors, younger age (p value = .0174) was associated with depression. Though the quality of life of a Person Living with HIV (PLHIV) fell in the acceptable category, those who had depression had poorer quality of life in all subdomains especially in the psychological and social domains and these were all highly statistically significant (p value <.0001).@*Conclusion@#The study revealed that Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) was prevalent in almost one fourth (23.85%) of HIV patients who were mostly of a younger age i.e. less than 45 years old; with 90.32 % of the 31 noted to have MDD were less than 35 years old. Patients with concomitant depression had a poorer quality of life not only psychologically but in all subdomains compared to those who were not depressed.