Post-traumatic stress disorder and the care of persons living with HIV/AIDS

In conjunction with medical and scientific advances that have improved the survival and quality of life of persons living with HIV/AIDS, there has been increasing interest in examining post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in HIV positive persons. Studies of comorbid HIV/AIDS and PTSD have focused on a wide variety of demographic, cultural, and socioeconomic subgroups of diverse populations including women [1-3], socioeconomically disadvantaged persons [4, 5], gay men [6], and adolescents and young adults in developed countries such as the U.S. and Great Britain [7]. Other studies have focused on adults or children in African countries impacted by the AIDS pandemic [8, 9]. In the U.S., PTSD rates have been reported to be 10.4% to 42.2% in treatment seeking and convenience samples of patients with HIV/AIDS [2, 10]. Several factors may account for the cooccurrence of HIV/AIDS and PTSD and other anxiety and mood disorders such as major depression. These include the potentially traumatic nature of being diagnosed with a diagnosis that is often perceived as life-threatening; the relatively high rates of traumatic exposures (physical assault, sexual trauma, or the sudden, unexpected death of a close family member or friend) that have been reported in studies of persons with HIV/AIDS; and patient perceptions of AIDS-related stigma [2, 11].