Background

Mental health disorders have received little attention amongst people living with HIV/AIDS (PLHWA). Depression is the most common psychiatric consequence of HIV/AIDS diagnosis. Its prevalence is higher among PLWHA than the general population.

Objectives

To determine the prevalence of depression, to identify its associated factors and, lastly, to determine its association with treatment outcome measures among PLWHA on antiretroviral therapy (ART) aged ≥ 18 years receiving care at the HIV clinic of General Hospital, Lagos.

Material and methods

A cross-sectional study was conducted using the systematic random sampling method to select participants over a period of 14 weeks. An interviewer-administered questionnaire was designed to capture socio-demographic, behavioural, psychosocial, HIV and health-related information, as well as the clinical data of the participants. The Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) was used to assess depression. The relationships between depression and other participants’ characteristics were tested with Pearson’s chi-squared (χ2) test. Logistic regression analysis was used to minimise confounding, and the level of statistical significance was set as a p-value of ≤ 0.05.

Results

The total of 279 respondents, with a mean age of 43.1 ± 10.3 years, were predominantly females (67.7%). The prevalence of depression among the participants was 24%. Factors such as occupation (p = 0.041; 95% CI, 0.43 to 3.63), alcohol intake (p = 0.036; 95% CI, 0.62 to 3.82), cohabitation (p = 0.025; 95% CI, 1.43 to 3.82), stigmatisation (p = 0.008; 95% CI, 0.92 to 3.70) and personal history of depression (p < 0.001; 95% CI: 1.75 to 6.38) showed statistically significant relationships with depression.

Conclusions

The burden of depression is high among PLWHA. Identifying and unravelling factors associated with depression among PLWHA and advocacy against stigmatisation will play a significant role in reducing this burden.