Depressive Symptoms in Spouses of HIV Infected Individuals: A Study of HIV Uninfected Caregivers in Pune, India

Background: HIV infected individuals are at increased risk of developing psychiatric co-morbidi- ties, particularly depression. Coping with a disease associated with significant morbidity, mortali- ty and financial stress is likely to result in psychiatric morbidity even among caregivers, especially family members. However, there is scarcity of such data in HIV uninfected caregiver spouses. Ma- terial and Methods: Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-II), a diagnostic tool that measures depres- sive symptoms, was administered to HIV uninfected caregiver spouses of HIV infected individuals (n = 55) and HIV seronegative individuals from general population (n = 63) with similar demo- graphic profile. Chi-square test was used for categorical data. Results: Caregiver spouses exhibited higher depressive symptoms on the BDI-II (mean score 5.25 vs. 3.03; p = 0.029) as compared to others. The scores tended to be higher on the majority of the items, with sadness (p = 0.032), pu- nishment feeling (p = 0.024) and crying (p = 0.037) being statistically significant. Conclusions: Our results indicate that it is important to address the mental health needs of the spouses of HIV in- fected individuals as they may play a major role in their care and support in the Indian context.