Associations Between Key Psychosocial Stressors and Viral Suppression and Retention in Care Among Youth with HIV in Rural South Africa.

ABSTRACT: Despite improvements in access to antiretroviral treatment over the past decade, sub-optimal HIV care outcomes persist among youth with HIV (YWH) in rural South Africa. Psychosocial stressors could impede improved HIV treatment outcomes within this population. We linked self-reported psychosocial health and demographic data from a cross-sectional survey conducted among YWH aged 12-24 in rural South Africa to individual medical record data, including facility visit history and viral load measurements. Poisson regression with robust standard errors was used to estimate the associations between five psychosocial stressors- heightened depressive symptoms (Center for Epidemiological Studies-Depression scale scores ≥ 16), lower social support (Medical Outcomes Social Support Scale scores ≤ 38),

SUBMITTER: Filiatreau LM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8222008 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature