Management of depression in people living with HIV/AIDS in Senegal: Acceptability, feasibility and benefits of group interpersonal therapy

• DOI: 10.1017/gmh.2023.31
• Publication Date: 2023-06-30T06:39:01Z
• Authors: Charlotte Bernard; Hélène Font; Salaheddine Ziadeh; Judicaël M. Tine; Abibatou Diaw; Ibrahima Ndiaye; Oumar Samba; Thierry Bottai; Laurent Jacquesy; Helena Verdeli; Ndeye F. Ngom; François Dabis; Moussa Seydi; Nathalie de Reken...
• Keywords: Interpersonal psychotherapy; Depression; Stigma; Group psychotherapy; Patient Health Questionnaire

Abstract Depression is highly prevalent in people living with HIV (PLWH) and has negative consequences for daily life care. We evaluated the first time acceptability, feasibility benefits of group interpersonal therapy (IPT), combined a task-shifting approach, to treat depression PLWH Senegal. received IPT following World Health Organization protocol. Acceptability criteria were defined from literature data. The PHQ-9, WHODAS, 12-item-stigma scale used, pre- post-treatment, including 3-month follow-up, assess depressive symptom severity, functioning stigma, respectively. General linear mixed models used describe changes outcomes over time. Of 69 participants, 60 completed IPT. Refusal enroll dropout rates 6.6 12.7%, Ninety-seven percent participants attended at least seven out eight sessions. Patients facilitators endorsed IPT, willingness recommend it. Depressive symptoms disability improved drastically sustainably. showed that well accepted feasible Senegal as treatment PLWH. Combined it can narrow gap mental health treatment. Implementation may be enhanced by refining patient identification procedures increasing accessibility.