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HIV Infection in Attendees of Psychiatric Clinics in Harare, Zimbabwe; Prevalence, Associated Factors and HIV Care Uptake

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Abstract

Determination of HIV prevalence among people with mental illness is necessary for developing integrated services for HIV and mental illness. This study determined HIV prevalence and uptake of HIV care among outpatients of psychiatric hospitals in Harare, Zimbabwe. HIV status was determined using open testing of 270 randomly selected consenting adult outpatients. HIV prevalence was 14.4% and the risk of acquiring HIV was similar to the general population of adults in Zimbabwe. Females were six times more likely to have HIV infection than males. Although a relatively high proportion of patients had been tested for HIV in the past (77.2%), fewer were recently tested (27.8%). Access to HIV care was high (94%) amongst patients previously diagnosed to be HIV positive. Tertiary mental health services should offer similar HIV care packages as other points of care and there is need for interventions that reduce the risk of HIV in women with mental disorders.

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Acknowledgements

Firstly, we convey our sincere gratitude to all the patients at Parirenyatwa and Harare Hospital psychiatric clinics for their participation in this study. We acknowledge the Midlands State University for funding the project through staff development support. We also thank the National Microbiology Reference Laboratory, Parirenyatwa Hospital Laboratory and Diagnostic Laboratory Suppliers for provision of HIV test kits. Lastly, we extend our gratitude to the research assistants, Mr Lubengo, Mr Makombe, Sr Tandi, Mr Mativenga, Sr Mutiti and Ms Zviuya for their unwavering support in data collection.

Funding

This study was funded by the Midlands State University, Gweru, Zimbabwe through staff development support.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, Midlands State University, P Bag 9055, Gweru, Zimbabwe

    Tatenda B. Madziro-Ruwizhu

  2. United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Harare, Zimbabwe

    Tendai Nyagura

  3. AIDS & TB Department, Ministry of Health and Child Care, Harare, Zimbabwe

    Kudakwashe Takarinda

  4. Institute of Psychology, Psychiatry, and Neuroscience, King’s College London, London, UK

    Helen E. Jack

  5. University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA

    Helen E. Jack

  6. Department of Psychiatry, College of Health Sciences, University of Zimbabwe, Harare, Zimbabwe

    Lazarus Kajawu & Walter Mangezi

Authors
  1. Tatenda B. Madziro-Ruwizhu
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  2. Tendai Nyagura
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  3. Kudakwashe Takarinda
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  4. Helen E. Jack
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  5. Lazarus Kajawu
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  6. Walter Mangezi
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Correspondence to Tatenda B. Madziro-Ruwizhu.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Madziro-Ruwizhu, T.B., Nyagura, T., Takarinda, K. et al. HIV Infection in Attendees of Psychiatric Clinics in Harare, Zimbabwe; Prevalence, Associated Factors and HIV Care Uptake. AIDS Behav 23, 3471–3481 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10461-019-02633-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10461-019-02633-2

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