Nature of depression in patients with HIV/AIDS

Objective: Existing research suggests that the rate of depressive illness and depressive symptoms are high in people living with HIV/AIDS, but investigations on the causes of depression provide conflicting results. Social, psychological and biological factors have all been suggested as possible causes of depression in people living with HIV/AIDS. The suggestion that depression may be the result of the neurotropic effects of the virus on the central nervous system leading to an ‘organic ’ or secondary depression has ma-jor implications in the treatment of HIV/AIDS. The aim of the current study was to fur-ther investigate the nature and underlying aetiology of depression in people living with HIV/AIDS. Method: One hundred and twenty-nine people living with HIV/AIDS recruited for the study from outpatients clinics and primary care settings completed a range of self-report symptom measures including the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), SF-36, SPHERE and a personality measure, the NEO Personality Inventory (NEO-PI). They also com-pleted a battery of neuropsychological tests (CANTAB) and a structured clinical interview (SCID-DSM-IV). Medical and sociodemographic data were also recorded