Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and its Correlates Among People Living with HIV in Southern Ethiopia, an Institutionally Based Cross-Sectional Study

Post-traumatic stress disorder is a common psychiatric problem more highly prevalent among HIV infected individuals than the general population. This study aims to assess the probable prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder and associated factors among individuals living with HIV in Hawassa, Ethiopia, 2018. An institution based cross-sectional study was employed. A total of 205 HIV positive individuals who attend follow-up sessions at HIV clinics were recruited for the study through systematic sampling techniques. The presence of probable post-traumatic stress disorder was assessed by using the post-traumatic stress disorder checklist −5. The potential traumatic life events and any stressful events that occurred in participants’ lives were assessed by the life event checklist for DSM-5 (LEC-5). The mean age of the respondents was 32.33 years (SD ±8.67). Prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) was 46.3%. Being female [AOR = 1.27, (95% CI: 1.01, 3.98)], poor social support [AOR = 1.71, (95% CI: 1.08, 4.45)], poor medication adherence [AOR = 3.87, (95% CI: 1.75, 6.79)], current alcohol use [AOR = 2.34, (95% CI: 1.32, 5.16)], HIV/TB coinfection [AOR = 1.23, (95% CI: 1.09, 6.84)] and having negative life events [AOR = 1.76, (95% CI: 1.41, 6.98)] had statistically significant association with probable post-traumatic stress disorder. The prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder among HIV positive individuals was high. The researchers highly recommend the integration of psychiatric services to HIV clinics and develop guidelines to screen and treat PTSD among HIV patients. Further research on risk factors of PTSD and longitudinal studies should be conducted to strengthen and broaden the current findings.