Assessment of Depression in HIV-Positive Patients Attending Antiretroviral Treatment Center of a Tertiary Care Institute in Eastern India: A Hospital-Based Cross-sectional Study

Context: Neurological ailments have complex relation with HIV/AIDS. Depression in seropositive patients directly affects treatment outcome. Aims: This study aims to determine the prevalence of depression/depressive symptoms in HIV/AIDS patients attending antiretroviral treatment center and ascertain the underlying factors that have bearing on depression. Settings and Design: This was a cross-sectional study conducted among HIV seropositive patients attending ART center of the largest public health hospital in Jharkhand. Subjects and Methods: Between April 2018 and March 2019, 250 adult subjects were consecutively recruited and interviewed. Depressive symptoms were assessed with the 9-item Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9), with a positive depression screen defined as PHQ-9 score ≥10. Statistical Analysis Used: Chi-square was used to assess association. Factors found significant underwent multivariable logistic regression analysis. Results: The overall prevalence of depressive symptoms was 18.8% (95% Confidence Interval (CI) [95% CI]: 14.2, 24.2). Multivariable logistic regression analysis identified history of weight loss (Adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 6.17, 95% CI: 2.0, 19.08; P = 0.002), presently suffering from tuberculosis (aOR 5.65, 95% CI: 1.47, 21.74; P = 0.012), bad relationship with family members (aOR 6.85, 95% CI: 1.49, 31.53, P = 0.013) as correlates of depressive symptoms. Conclusions: The present study found depressive symptoms among adults with seropositive status, attending the ART center. HIV seropositive patients with known comorbidities, for example, with a history of weight loss, presently suffering from tuberculosis and with stressed relation within the family were prone to depressive symptoms.