Patterns of Psychiatric Co-Morbidities In Patients of Hiv/Aids on Anti Retroviral Treatment

Back ground: WHO data highlights that globally 36.7 million people are living with HIV. There is sparse literature on mental health research in HIV /AIDS from developing countries such as India. Aims: To study patterns of psychiatric co-morbidities and associated factors in patients of HIV/AIDS on Anti retroviral treatment. Methods: This was an analysis of patients with diagnosis of HIV/AIDS on Anti retroviral treatment referred to psychiatry opd services.The duration of study was past one Year. Institution Ethics committee clearance was obtained and data was analyzed with SPSS 17 software. Variables such as demographic factors, co-morbid substance abuse, psychiatric co-morbidity, source of referral, neurological and medical co-morbidity, psychopharmacological and psychotherapeutic intervention were analyzed. Results: The study found 14 patients of HIV/AIDS patients who had been referred for outpatient psychiatric consultation over past 1 year, on regular anti retroviral treatment. Mean age of the sample was 47.8 years with equal sex profile. Around 57.2% patients were from urban areas and 42.8% of the patients were from rural areas. Majority (45.7%) of the patients were primary educated. Out of the sample 50.6% of the patients were married. Most common Neurological and medical co-morbidity were seizure(28.6%) and Tuberculosis(42.8%) respectively.Psychiatric diagnosis analysis revealed that 60.5% patients had Depressive disorders,21.5% had Psychosis (Organic Psychosis),7.1% had AIDS related dementia,7.1% had substance use with personality disorders and 3.8 % had a manic episode. Maximum source of referral were from department of medicine (35.7%) and NGO (28.6%). The most commonly prescribed drugs were Escitalopram (5 mg to 20 mg,60.3%), Olanzapine (5 mg to 20 mg,25.5%) Donepezil ( 5 mg to 23.5 mg,7.1% ) Sodium Valproate (500 mg to 1000 mg,7.1%). More than 80% of the patients received a combination of medications and counselling ,the type of counselling for psychological reference were supportive psychotherapy,cognitive behaviour therapy psychoeducational counselling and family therapy. Conclusion: Consultation Liaison psychiatry in arena of mental health and HIV/AIDS in terms of service development and utilization are needed.