psychological and emotional comorbidity in hiv patients

For people with HIV (PWH) who have psychological comorbidities, effective management of mental health issues is crucial to achieving and maintaining viral suppression. Care coordination programs (CCPs) have been shown to improve outcomes across the HIV care continuum, but little research has focused on the role of care coordination in supporting the mental health of PWH. This study reports qualitative findings from the Program Refinements to Optimize Model Impact and Scalability based on Evidence (PROMISE) study, which evaluated a revised version of an HIV CCP for Ryan White Part A clients in New York City...

OBJECTIVE: The occurrence of delayed preventative health screening as a result of health inequities and medical mistrust resulting from intersecting marginalized identities, including race and sexual orientation, is well documented; however, this complex interplay applied to a neuropsychological profile is less established. The present case uses neuropsychological assessment to further the understanding of the brain-behavior relationship in a case with significant medical comorbidities, a history of childhood trauma, underlying psychiatric conditions, and social and cultural identities that have been historically marginalized...

BACKGROUND: Breast cancer is the most common cancer globally and among South African women. Women from socioeconomically disadvantaged South African communities more often present later and receive total mastectomy compared to those from more affluent communities who have more breast conserving surgery (which is less invasive but requires mandatory radiation treatment post-operatively). Standard chemotherapy and total mastectomy treatments are known to cause traumatizing side effects and emotional suffering among South African women; moreover, many women face limited communication with physicians and psychological support...

INTRODUCTION: People who inject drugs (PWID) are one of the key populations most vulnerable to HIV infection, with 28 times higher prevalence compared to the rest of the population. PWID are known to have many physical, psychological and lifestyle challenges that can influence access to care. Depression is common among PWID living with HIV. It has major effect on health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and is influencing adherence to antiretroviral therapy. This study was conducted to explore how anxiety and depression affect HRQoL among HIV-positive PWID in Ukraine...

OBJECTIVE: This consensus document is an update of psychiatric and psychological disorders guidelines in HIV-patientes, from the standpoint of care. METHODS: This document has been approved by expert panel of SPNS, SEP, GESIDA and SEIP, after reviewing the results of efficacy and safety of clinical trials, cohort and pharmacokinetic studies published in biomedical journals (PubMed and Embase) or presented at conferences. The strength of recommendation and gradation of their evidence are based onthe GRADE system...

HIV Patient care should include psychological and psychiatric care, which is necessary for early detection thereof. Should suicidal ideation occur, refer the patient to a psychiatric unit. Pharmacological treatment is recommended when there is comorbidity with moderate or severe depression. You should look for the aetiology of neuropsychiatric disorder before using psychoactive drugs in HIV patients. The overall management of the health of HIV adolescents should include an assessment of mental health, environmental stressors and support systems...

Alcoholism and HIV-1 infection each affect components of selective attention and cognitive control that may contribute to deficits in emotion processing based on closely interacting fronto-parietal attention and frontal-subcortical emotion systems. Here, we investigated whether patients with alcoholism, HIV-1 infection, or both diseases have greater difficulty than healthy controls in resolving conflict from emotional words with different valences. Accordingly, patients with alcoholism (ALC, n = 20), HIV-1 infection (HIV, n = 20), ALC + HIV comorbidity (n = 22), and controls (CTL, n = 16) performed an emotional Stroop Match-to-Sample task, which assessed the contribution of emotion (happy, angry) to cognitive control (Stroop conflict processing)...

The World Health Organization has recommended collaborative activities between TB and HIV programmes with routine counseling and testing for HIV among TB patients in order to improve the uptake of HIV services. We carried out qualitative research interviews with 21 TB patients in four selected TB and HIV/AIDS treatment centres in the Northwest Region of Cameroon to explore the facilitators and barriers to HIV testing. The desire to be healthy and live longer from knowing one's status inspired by the anticipated support from loved ones, faith in a supreme being, influence and trust in the medical authority, encouraged HIV testing...

This study examines the utility of the aesthetic and reconstructive categorization for making treatment decisions in patients seeking facial surgery. A total of 360 patients with aesthetic or combined functional aesthetic deficits were included. Validated psychological scales were used as outcome measures. All subjects showed clinically significant levels of appearance-related distress, with highest levels in the aesthetic and lowest levels in the functionally impaired group. Significant gender differences were not found on any psychological measures...

OBJECTIVE: Despite the fact that two-thirds of all the people with HIV live in sub-Saharan Africa, little is known about the emotional state and quality of life (QOL) of subjects with HIV in this region. The objective of this study was to evaluate the association between clinical depression and quality of life in a group of HIV sero-positive subjects in Nigeria. METHODS: Subjects with HIV infection (n = 87) completed a questionnaire detailing sociodemographic and HIV related variables...

This is the third study in a line of research which is designed to increase scientific understanding of the predictors of health-related quality of life (HRQOL) among men with HIV infection using data collected in large, prospective cohort study. Building on two prior investigations, this study examined the time-dependent relationships of psychosocial and clinical variables (active coping strategies, social support, CD4 cell count, comorbidity, and duration of HIV infection) and 10 HRQOL dimensions at two time points (baseline and 12 months)...

Preserving health-related quality of life (QOL) is an important approach with HIV-positive patients. In a longitudinal study over 3 years, with three measurements each 18 months, we examined 56 of these patients for the influence of distress and coping (assessed by interviews) on physical, cognitive-emotional, and social QOL (using the SEL questionnaire). The patients were 32.9 years old on average, with 28.3 months since diagnosis. Seventy percent were male, 82% asymptomatic, 14% with ARC, and 4% with AIDS...

PURPOSE: To determine the factors associated with the adoption or maintenance of consistent safer sexual behaviors among human immunodeficiency virus-positive adolescents and young adults with hemophilia. METHODS: One hundred eleven adolescents at 10 hemophilia care sites participated in an intervention program designed to increase safer sexual behaviors (abstinence, condom use, or nonpenetrative behavior). The theory-based intervention spanned 1 year. Adolescents attended individual sessions, small group activities, and an intensive group retreat...

This study used the SF-36 general health questionnaire to measure the health status of heroin users at entry to a public methadone maintenance programme. Their results were compared to those from the general population and from three clinical groups: patients with minor medical, major medical and psychiatric problems. One hundred consecutive clients were interviewed in the first week on the programme using the SF-36 health questionnaire. Data were also gathered on their drug use, use of medical services and HIV risk behaviour...