Psychiatric Disorders in Adult ‘People Living with HIV/ AIDS’ Attending a Tertiary Care Hospital

Background: Psychiatric disorders are reported remarkably high among 'people living with HIV/AIDS' (PLWHA).It warrants a study in Nepalese context.Objective: To measure the prevalence of common psychiatric disorders among adult PLWHA.Method and Materials: It was a hospitalbased cross-sectional study.One hundred consecutive consenting PLWHA attending VCT clinic of a tertiary care hospital within study period (1 year) were enrolled after informed written consent.Pertinent informations were recorded in the Proforma.An intensive exploration was made in all subjects into common psychiatric disorders, i.e., depression, anxiety, alcohol use and organic mental disorders with the use of the tools: Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI), CAGE and MMSE.Results: Among enrolled subjects, more were male, with average age of about 35 years.Majority of subjects were married and were literate to different educational levels.These people were from different residential settings-urban and rural, and different ethnic groups.They contracted the infection mainly through sexual and parenteral routes.Approximately one third had the CAGE score of ≥ 2; 18% MMSE score < 24; 68% BAI score > 7 and 52% BDI score ≥ 17, indicating clinical diagnoses in respective spectrum.Conclusion: Psychiatric disorders are common among PLWHA and need to be screened for timely management.