Depression and Anxiety in Youth and Young Adults Living with HIV: Frequency and Associated Factors in Thai Setting

Abstract

Integrative mental health care in HIV patients is an important contributor to successful therapy. This is a cross-sectional study in youth and young adults who attend routine HIV clinic at a tertiary care centre in Bangkok. We recruited 100 youth and 130 young adults living with HIV to evaluate the frequency of depression and anxiety and associated sociodemographic including sexual orientation and health-related behaviours. Overall, about a fifth of the participants had significant depression or anxiety. Interestingly, we found different factors associated with depression in youth and young adults living with HIV. Loss of their father, loss of close relatives or friends, and being unemployed or school exclusion were the factors associate with depression in youth; while dangerous alcohol use, feeling discriminated against and having lipodystrophy were factors in young adults. The understanding of the frequency and different associated factors can inform more effective prevention and treatment strategies.

Keywords: HIV in asian setting; HIV-infected youth; mental health; psychosocial factors.

Figure 1.

Mental health screening outcomes. 1a) Youth group, 1b) Young adult group. The Thai version of the 9-item depression scale from the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ −9) and modified PHQ-9 for Adolescents (PHQ-A) were used to evaluate depression in adults and adolescents, respectively. Depression was defined as having PHQ-A score of ≥ 10 or PHQ-9 of ≥ 9. The Child Anxiety Related Disorder (SCARED) and the 7-item anxiety scale (GAD-7) were used to evaluate anxiety in youth in young adults, respectively. Anxiety was defined as having SCARED score of ≥ 25 or GAD-7 of ≥ 10 to identify anxiety disorder.