Low Prevalence of Depressive Symptoms among Stable Patients on Antiretroviral Therapy in Johannesburg, South Africa

Depression is a leading cause of morbidity worldwide. It affects more than 300 million individuals globally and depressive disorders are currently the 4th leading cause of Years Lived with Disability (YLD) in South Africa. People living with HIV are disproportionately affected by mental health disorders and while the lifetime prevalence of depression in the general population of South Africa is estimated as 9.7%, estimates from HIV-infected populations have ranged from 14-62%, with variability observed along the HIV care cascade. In our study, we evaluated 97 patients on antiretroviral therapy for at least six months for the presence of depressive symptoms using the PHQ-9 in an interviewer-administered format.