TITLE:
Depressive Symptoms in Spouses of HIV Infected Individuals: A Study of HIV Uninfected Caregivers in Pune, India
AUTHORS:
Manisha V. Ghate, Thomas D. Marcotte, Hrishikesh D. Rangnekar, Rachel Meyer, Maiko Sakamoto, Sanjay M. Mehendale
KEYWORDS:
HIV, Spouses, Depression
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Psychiatry,
Vol.5 No.1,
November
28,
2014
ABSTRACT: Background: HIV infected individuals are at
increased risk of developing psychiatric comorbidities, particularly
depression. Coping with a disease associated with significant morbidity,
mortality and financial stress is likely to result in psychiatric morbidity
even among caregivers, especially family members. However, there is scarcity of
such data in HIV uninfected caregiver spouses. Material and Methods: Beck
Depression Inventory (BDI-II), a diagnostic tool that measures depressive
symptoms, was administered to HIV uninfected caregiver spouses of HIV infected
individuals (n = 55) and HIV seronegative individuals from general population
(n = 63) with similar demographic profile. Chisquare test was used for
categorical data. Results: Caregiver spouses exhibited higher depressive
symptoms on the BDI-II (mean score 5.25 vs. 3.03; p = 0.029) as compared to
others. The scores tended to be higher on the majority of the items, with
sadness (p = 0.032), punishment feeling (p = 0.024) and crying (p = 0.037) being
statistically significant. Conclusions: Our results indicate that it is
important to address the mental health needs of the spouses of HIV infected
individuals as they may play a major role in their care and support in the
Indian contex