Abstract
Objective
To analyze the somatic and affective-cognitive symptoms of depression according to the sex of people living with HIV/AIDS.
Methods
Analytic study developed at specialized care services in Ribeirão Preto-SP, including a sample of 331 participants. To collect the data, a sociodemographic characterization tool and Beck’s Depression Inventory (BDI) were used.
Results
Among the interviewees, 50.4% were male, 52.1% of whom in the age range between 20 and 35 years. Higher education (p=0.001) and lower income (<0.001) were found for the women and more comorbidities (p=0.004) for the men. It was identified that the women presented higher mean depression scores in the somatic (p<0.001) as well as in the affective/cognitive domains (p<0.001).
Conclusion
These study results appoint that the women present higher depressive symptom scores than the man, in the somatic as well as in the affective/cognitive domains of the BDI subscales.
HIV; Depression; Sex