AIDS treatment and mental health: Evidence from Uganda

Edward N. Okeke and Glenn J. Wagner

Social Science & Medicine, 2013, vol. 92, issue C, 27-34

Abstract: Increased access to antiretroviral therapy (ART) in developing countries over the last decade is believed to have contributed to reductions in HIV transmission and improvements in life expectancy. While numerous studies document the effects of ART on physical health and functioning, comparatively less attention has been paid to the effects of ART on mental health outcomes. In this paper we study the impact of ART on depression in a cohort of patients in Uganda entering HIV care. We find that 12 months after beginning ART, the prevalence of major and minor depression in the treatment group had fallen by approximately 15 and 27 percentage points respectively relative to a comparison group of patients in HIV care but not receiving ART. We also find some evidence that ART helps to close the well-known gender gap in depression between men and women.

Keywords: HIV; Antiretroviral therapy; Mental health; Africa (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2013
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277953613003006
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:socmed:v:92:y:2013:i:c:p:27-34

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/supportfaq.cws_home/regional
http://www.elsevier. ... _01_ooc_1&version=01

DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2013.05.018

Access Statistics for this article

Social Science & Medicine is currently edited by Ichiro (I.) Kawachi and S.V. (S.V.) Subramanian

More articles in Social Science & Medicine from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().