Assessing depressive symptoms among people living with HIV in Yangon city, Myanmar: Does being a member of self-help group matter?

<h4>Background</h4>While self-help groups have been formed among people living with HIV, few studies have been conducted to assess the role of self-help groups in mitigating depressive symptoms. This study investigated the association between self-help group membership and depressive sym...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Myat Wint Than, Nicholus Tint Zaw, Kyi Minn, Yu Mon Saw, Junko Kiriya, Masamine Jimba, Hla Hla Win, Akira Shibanuma
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2021-01-01
Series:PLoS ONE
Online Access:https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0248807&type=printable
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1850181712509665280
author Myat Wint Than
Nicholus Tint Zaw
Kyi Minn
Yu Mon Saw
Junko Kiriya
Masamine Jimba
Hla Hla Win
Akira Shibanuma
author_facet Myat Wint Than
Nicholus Tint Zaw
Kyi Minn
Yu Mon Saw
Junko Kiriya
Masamine Jimba
Hla Hla Win
Akira Shibanuma
author_sort Myat Wint Than
collection DOAJ
description <h4>Background</h4>While self-help groups have been formed among people living with HIV, few studies have been conducted to assess the role of self-help groups in mitigating depressive symptoms. This study investigated the association between self-help group membership and depressive symptoms among people living with HIV in Yangon, Myanmar.<h4>Methods</h4>In this cross-sectional study, data were collected from people living with HIV at three antiretroviral therapy clinics in 2017. Multiple logistic regression analyses were carried out to examine the associations between having self-help group membership and depressive symptoms. Three ART clinics were purposively selected based on the recommendation from the National AIDS Program in Myanmar. At these clinics, people living with HIV were recruited by a convenience sampling method.<h4>Results</h4>Among people living with HIV recruited in this study (n = 464), 201 (43.3%) were members of a self-help group. The membership was not associated with having depressive symptoms (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] 1.59, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.98-2.59). Factors associated with having depressive symptoms were female (AOR 3.70, 95% CI 1.54-8.88) and lack of social support (AOR 0.97, 95% CI 0.96-0.98) among self-help group members, and female (AOR 3.47, 95% CI 1.70-7.09), lack of social support (AOR 0.98, 95% CI 0.97-0.99), and internalized stigma (AOR 1.28, 95% 1.08-1.53) among non-members.<h4>Conclusions</h4>This study did not find evidence on the association between membership in self-help groups and depressive symptoms among people living with HIV. Social support was a protective factor against depressive symptoms both self-help group members and non-members, although the level of social support was lower among members than non-members. The activities of self-help groups and care provided by the ART clinics should be strengthened to address mental health problems among people living with HIV in the study site.
format Article
id doaj-art-273e59df09064daa8e4d075beceee06e
institution OA Journals
issn 1932-6203
language English
publishDate 2021-01-01
publisher Public Library of Science (PLoS)
record_format Article
series PLoS ONE
spelling doaj-art-273e59df09064daa8e4d075beceee06e2025-08-20T02:17:50ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032021-01-01163e024880710.1371/journal.pone.0248807Assessing depressive symptoms among people living with HIV in Yangon city, Myanmar: Does being a member of self-help group matter?Myat Wint ThanNicholus Tint ZawKyi MinnYu Mon SawJunko KiriyaMasamine JimbaHla Hla WinAkira Shibanuma<h4>Background</h4>While self-help groups have been formed among people living with HIV, few studies have been conducted to assess the role of self-help groups in mitigating depressive symptoms. This study investigated the association between self-help group membership and depressive symptoms among people living with HIV in Yangon, Myanmar.<h4>Methods</h4>In this cross-sectional study, data were collected from people living with HIV at three antiretroviral therapy clinics in 2017. Multiple logistic regression analyses were carried out to examine the associations between having self-help group membership and depressive symptoms. Three ART clinics were purposively selected based on the recommendation from the National AIDS Program in Myanmar. At these clinics, people living with HIV were recruited by a convenience sampling method.<h4>Results</h4>Among people living with HIV recruited in this study (n = 464), 201 (43.3%) were members of a self-help group. The membership was not associated with having depressive symptoms (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] 1.59, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.98-2.59). Factors associated with having depressive symptoms were female (AOR 3.70, 95% CI 1.54-8.88) and lack of social support (AOR 0.97, 95% CI 0.96-0.98) among self-help group members, and female (AOR 3.47, 95% CI 1.70-7.09), lack of social support (AOR 0.98, 95% CI 0.97-0.99), and internalized stigma (AOR 1.28, 95% 1.08-1.53) among non-members.<h4>Conclusions</h4>This study did not find evidence on the association between membership in self-help groups and depressive symptoms among people living with HIV. Social support was a protective factor against depressive symptoms both self-help group members and non-members, although the level of social support was lower among members than non-members. The activities of self-help groups and care provided by the ART clinics should be strengthened to address mental health problems among people living with HIV in the study site.https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0248807&type=printable
spellingShingle Myat Wint Than
Nicholus Tint Zaw
Kyi Minn
Yu Mon Saw
Junko Kiriya
Masamine Jimba
Hla Hla Win
Akira Shibanuma
Assessing depressive symptoms among people living with HIV in Yangon city, Myanmar: Does being a member of self-help group matter?
PLoS ONE
title Assessing depressive symptoms among people living with HIV in Yangon city, Myanmar: Does being a member of self-help group matter?
title_full Assessing depressive symptoms among people living with HIV in Yangon city, Myanmar: Does being a member of self-help group matter?
title_fullStr Assessing depressive symptoms among people living with HIV in Yangon city, Myanmar: Does being a member of self-help group matter?
title_full_unstemmed Assessing depressive symptoms among people living with HIV in Yangon city, Myanmar: Does being a member of self-help group matter?
title_short Assessing depressive symptoms among people living with HIV in Yangon city, Myanmar: Does being a member of self-help group matter?
title_sort assessing depressive symptoms among people living with hiv in yangon city myanmar does being a member of self help group matter
url https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0248807&type=printable
work_keys_str_mv AT myatwintthan assessingdepressivesymptomsamongpeoplelivingwithhivinyangoncitymyanmardoesbeingamemberofselfhelpgroupmatter
AT nicholustintzaw assessingdepressivesymptomsamongpeoplelivingwithhivinyangoncitymyanmardoesbeingamemberofselfhelpgroupmatter
AT kyiminn assessingdepressivesymptomsamongpeoplelivingwithhivinyangoncitymyanmardoesbeingamemberofselfhelpgroupmatter
AT yumonsaw assessingdepressivesymptomsamongpeoplelivingwithhivinyangoncitymyanmardoesbeingamemberofselfhelpgroupmatter
AT junkokiriya assessingdepressivesymptomsamongpeoplelivingwithhivinyangoncitymyanmardoesbeingamemberofselfhelpgroupmatter
AT masaminejimba assessingdepressivesymptomsamongpeoplelivingwithhivinyangoncitymyanmardoesbeingamemberofselfhelpgroupmatter
AT hlahlawin assessingdepressivesymptomsamongpeoplelivingwithhivinyangoncitymyanmardoesbeingamemberofselfhelpgroupmatter
AT akirashibanuma assessingdepressivesymptomsamongpeoplelivingwithhivinyangoncitymyanmardoesbeingamemberofselfhelpgroupmatter