Prevalence and Factors Related to Depression among Adolescents Living with HIV/AIDS, in Gasabo District, Rwanda

Adolescents living with HIV are vulnerable to depression with a negative effect on treatment outcomes. However, there are little data on the factors associated with depression in adolescents with HIV infection in Rwanda.

This article aims to assess the prevalence and sociodemographic factors related to depression among adolescents living with HIV/AIDS.

A cross sectional research was conducted with 102 adolescents living with HIV/AIDS. Depression was measured by Centre for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-DC) in its latest version adapted to the context of Rwanda. Chi-square test and binary logistic regression were performed to determine the factors associated with depression.

The prevalence of participants who had symptoms of depression was 31%. The risk to develop depression increased among HIV infected adolescent who did not attend school or who lived with another person who is not a parent or family member. Having both parents deceased increases the risk to develop depression by 25.07 times compared to when none of them is deceased.

The results have demonstrated that lack of social support is likely to raise the risk of development of depression symptoms among adolescent with HIV. It is clearly an urgent priority to implement programs that focus on provision and maintenance of psychosocial support to this group in order to reverse the situation.