Amsterdam 2015
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| Abstract #2084 - No health without mental health | ||||
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Session: 40.1: No health without mental health (Parallel) on Thursday @ 16.30-18.00 in C103 Chaired by Mark Tomlinson, Tomas Campbell Authors: Presenting Author: Ms Sarah Zetler - Homerton University Hospital NHS Trust, United Kingdom |
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| Aim: People living with HIV (PLWH) have higher rates of trauma than the general population. Exposure to traumatic events can have negative health outcomes including HIV progression and poor health care engagement (Lesserman, 2008). In this study we examined 1) the prevalence and types of traumatic life events experienced by persons newly diagnosed with HIV, and 2) associations between traumatic life events and mental and physical health outcomes. | ||||
| Method / Issue: Data was collected using a modified Client Diagnostic Questionnaire (mCDQ) (Aidala et al., 2004) for persons with new HIV infection from 2010 to 2014. The mCDQ includes standard questionnaires for anxiety, depression, PTSD, and substance misuse. Number of traumas, as well as type of trauma, was examined in relation to subsequent attendance patterns, immunological functioning, substance misuse and other psychiatric co-morbidities. | ||||
| Results / Comments: 155/360 (43%) of newly diagnosed HIV outpatients were screened. Of those screened 113 (73%) had experienced some traumatic event while 25 (16%) screened positive for PTSD. On average people had experienced 2.1 traumatic events however those who screened positive for PTSD had experienced significantly more traumatic events with an average of 3.7 (p<.001). Table 1: Types of traumatic experiences in a cohort of persons newly diagnosed with HIV Total Screened 155 Serious accident or natural disaster 32 (21%) Exposure to war or civil unrest 13 (8%) Physical or sexual assault, abuse or rape as an adult 43 (28%) Physical or sexual assault, abuse or rape as a child 29 (19%) Witnessing violence in the family or seeing someone assaulted, injured or killed 44 (68%) Losing a child through death 21 (14%) Any other terrible or frightening experience 34 (22%) Significant associations were found between screening positive for PTSD and screening positive for depressive disorder (p<.001) and Generalised Anxiety Disorder (p<.001). Experiences of war were associated with higher rates of Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) (p=.037). Sexual or physical assault as a child was associated with higher rates of depressive disorder (p=.001), GAD (p=.007), panic syndrome (p=.034), and substance misuse (p=.033). No association between traumatic experiences and immunological states at diagnosis was found. | ||||
| Discussion: In this cohort of person’s newly diagnosed with HIV there are a high number of traumatic life events and PTSD. It is important that PTSD is included in routine screening following HIV diagnosis. Future study is needed to track possible health impacts of PTSD over time. ReferencesAidala, A., Havens, J., Mellins, C. A., Dodds, S., Whetten, K., Martin, D. & Ko, P. (2004). Development and validation of the Client Diagnostic Questionnaire (CDQ): A mental health screening tool for use in HIV/AIDS service settings. Psychology, Health & Medicine, 9(3), 362-380.Leserman, J. (2008). Role of depression, stress, and trauma in HIV disease progression. Psychosomatic Medicine, 70(5), 539-545. | ||||
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