Group Therapy for Depression in People Living with HIV in Kampala, Uganda

Group Support Psychotherapy for Depression in People Living with HIV compared to enhanced usual care in Kampala, Uganda | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Group Support Psychotherapy for Depression in People Living with HIV compared to enhanced usual care in Kampala, Uganda Sarah Lofgren, Vanessa Akinyange, Anita Arinda, Raymond Sebuliba, and 3 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-5927215/v2 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 2 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Show more versions Abstract Depression in people living with HIV (PWH) is associated with reduced medication adherence, viral suppression, and retention-in-care. In low-resourced settings, depression interventions are needed for PWH to improve outcomes. We conducted a randomized trial at a large, public HIV clinic. We enrolled PWH who started HIV medications <3 months prior and had depression. We randomized participants 1:1 to either Group Support Psychotherapy over 8 weeks or enhanced usual care. We measured depression with the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) and Hamilton depression rating scale. Between 2021-2023, we enrolled 137 PWH. The median age was 30 years. The median CD4 count was 332 cells/mcL. Female participants made up 64%. Baseline depression metrics were not different between groups. Most subjects had mild depression. Moderate-severe depression (PHQ-9 > 10) was present in 37% of the intervention group and 38% of the control group. At three months, we found that the percentage of mild depression was significantly lower in the intervention compared to the control (11% (5/47) versus 34% (21/62), p=0.005). By 6 months, depression metrics were not statistically different as depression had resolved in 3% (3/102). The change in PHQ-9 was significantly greater in the intervention group compared to the control group. Group Support Psychotherapy was successful in relieving depression in PWH at three months compared to enhanced usual care. Group Support Psychotherapy can be used in different settings and effectively improves mood in PWH. Further work is needed to adapt psychological interventions to different settings among people with HIV in low- and middle-income settings. Infectious Diseases Psychology Epidemiology HIV Depression Behavioral Intervention Group Therapy Figures Figure 1 Full Text Additional Declarations The authors declare no competing interests. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 2 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Show more versions Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-5927215","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":413566038,"identity":"b64752e6-3e72-4f26-90a2-a7e09f3cf99f","order_by":0,"name":"Sarah 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In low-resourced settings, depression interventions are needed for PWH to improve outcomes.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWe conducted a randomized trial at a large, public HIV clinic. We enrolled PWH who started HIV medications \u0026lt;3 months prior and had depression. We randomized participants 1:1 to either Group Support Psychotherapy over 8 weeks or enhanced usual care. We measured depression with the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) and Hamilton depression rating scale.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBetween 2021-2023, we enrolled 137 PWH. The median age was 30 years. The median CD4 count was 332 cells/mcL. Female participants made up 64%. Baseline depression metrics were not different between groups. Most subjects had mild depression. Moderate-severe depression (PHQ-9 \u003cu\u003e\u0026gt;\u003c/u\u003e10) was present in 37% of the intervention group and 38% of the control group. 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