Amsterdam 2015
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| Abstract #2220 - Psychological dimensions | ||||
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Session: 12.2: Psychological dimensions (Oral poster discussion) on Wednesday @ 13.30-14.30 in Poster room 1 Chaired by Shilpa Zacharia Authors: Presenting Author: dr Catherine Adams - CNWL, United Kingdom |
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| Additional Authors: | ||||
| Aim: To describe the numbers and psychiatric diagnoses of people with HIV referred to a dedicated service consisting of psychiatrists and clinical psychologists in 2014, and to compare with them to those in 1990, 1995, and 1999. | ||||
| Method / Issue: A retrospective review of all cases referred to the service during the periods of 1990, 1995, 1999 and 2014. Paper records of all the referrals made by GPs, clinicians and self-referrals were used to identify those that were HIV positive. The details about each referral were then extracted from an electronic data base and analysed. | ||||
| Results / Comments: There were a total of 490 patients referred to Psychological Medicine Unit (psychiatry and psychology) during 2014 with a mean age of 43 years old and a sex ratio of 11:1 (M:F). Of the 490 referred, 392 (80%) were seen and 98 (20%) did not attend (DNA) for assessment. The number of patients seen by the service has gradually increased from 123 in 1990. In 2014, the most common diagnosis of patient referred was depression, with this being the principal diagnosis in 186 (47%) of those referred. This is comparison to 98 (27%) of referrals in 1999, 59 (19%) in 1995 and 21 (17%) in 1990. The diagnosis of anxiety disorder has also increased from 6 (5%) in 1990 to 60 (15%) in 2014. Over this time there has been a reduction in the diagnosis of adjustment disorder from 33 (27%) in 1990 to 65 (17%) in 2014, substance misuse has decreased from 21 (17%) in 1990 to 36 (9%) in 2014 and acute organic illness from 5 (4%) to 0 (0%) in 2014. In 2014, 9 (2%) of patients had a principal diagnosis of personality disorder, no patients had this as a principal diagnosis in previously collected data. | ||||
| Discussion: The 2014 results show a continuation of the trend towards the diagnoses of anxiety and depression, mostly of a long standing nature, as opposed to acute mental health difficulties such as acute organic brain disorders. The findings confirm the changing nature of mental health difficulties of people with HIV infection following access to successful antiretroviral therapy. | ||||
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