Change in Substance Use and the Effects of Social Distancing on Health-Related Quality of Life and Depressive Symptoms During the COVID-19 Pandemic in People Living With and Without HIV

Background: Little is known about the impact of social distancing on health-related quality of life and depressive symptoms in older people with HIV during the COVID-19 pandemic. Setting: HIV-positive and HIV-negative AGEhIV Cohort Study participants. Method: In September-November 2020, participants completed questionnaires on social distancing, change in substance use, health-related quality of life (EQ-6D, including EQ-VAS), and depressive symptoms (PHQ-9). Associations between social distancing and (1) EQ-VAS or (2) PHQ-9 score ≥10 (clinically relevant depressive symptoms) were analyzed using fractional and binomial logistic regression, respectively. Results: Two hundred fourteen HIV-positive and 285 HIV-negative participants were analyzed. 77.4% found social distancing important and 66.9% reported good adherence to these measures, without significant differences between HIV-positive and HIV-negative participants. In both groups,
Source: JAIDS Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes - Category: Infectious Diseases Tags: Epidemiology Source Type: research