Depression among People Living with HIV Infection:A Comparative Study

Depression among people living with an HIV infection is a matter of extreme concern since depression in turn is associated with poor health outcomes and lower quality of life for them. The purpose of this study was to find out (1) the gender difference in symptoms of depression among people living with an HIV infection, and (2) to compare the symptoms of depression in this group to a demographically similar undiagnosed comparative group. Results indicated that seropositive women had the highest level of depression followed by seropositive men and the diagnosed group experienced more symptoms of depression than the undiagnosed group. The findings can be utilised to develop specialised, targeted intervention for people living with HIV infection.