Abstract:

Background: People living with HIV/AIDS experience mental health challenges such as suicidal ideation and depression. Depression is one of the most common psychiatric disorders affecting PLHIV due to several factors and it interchangeably leads to suicidal thoughts if left untreated. HIV/AIDS remains a global public health problem and according to WHO, about 25.7 million people in Africa were living with HIV. In Tanzania, 1.6 million people were living with HIV in 2018. Moreover, people that live with HIV are occasionally seen as discreditable in the society due to numerous misconceptions surrounding the disease which ultimately, negatively impacts them leaving them at risk of mental health illness, poor treatment adherence and overall poor health outcomes.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of depression, stigma and suicidal ideation among people living with HIV/AIDS at Bugando Medical Center and the factors that could be associated with this.

Methodology: This was a cross-sectional study design using well-structured questionnaires to assess sociodemographic characteristics of participants while Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) was used to determine depression. Sample questions on stigma was obtained from a working report measuring HIV stigma in Tanzania to determine stigma among the people living with HIV at BMC.

Results: Three hundred PLHIV participated in the study where 71.7% were female and 28.3% were male and the mean age was 42.98 years (± 11.86 SD). The prevalence of depression obtained from the study was 54.7% and results from analysis showed that age, having a seropositive child, suicidal ideation and living with HIV/AIDS for a few years were significantly associated with developing depression (p-value<0.05). In addition to this, the prevalence of suicidal ideation among PLHIV in this study was 37% and analysis revealed that age and living with HIV/AIDS for a few years were significantly associated with suicidal ideation. Stigma was high among the study participants and was more prevalent among females than males moreover, only 7.3% of the participants had not disclosed their status and most of them revealed that their reason for non-disclosure was feelings of shame and guilt (0.41%).

Conclusion: It is determined from the current study done at BMC among PLHIV that the prevalence of depression and suicidal ideation (54.7% and 37% respectively) were high than other previous studies and the factors associated included adult age (26 to 45 years of age), living with HIV/AIDS for few years and having a seropositive child. Stigma was also high among the female population with only 7.3% of the study population that had not disclosed their HIV status.