Abstract
This cross-sectional study aimed to compare dietary intake in people living with HIV (PLHIV) experiencing symptoms of depression with those not reporting depression. The Centre for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D10) was used to classify the risk of depression. Dietary nutrient intake was determined using the diet history and food frequency questionnaire. Depressed (n = 21) compared with non-depressed (n = 37) subjects had significantly lower mean intake of fibre (16.1 versus 25.4 g/day), vitamin A (801.5 versus 1524.8 mg/day), magnesium (299.8 versus 380.0 mg/day) and folate (264.8 versus 402.9 μg/day). The proportion of subjects achieving the recommended intake of these nutrients, with the exception of folate was also found to be lower in the depressed group compared with non-depressed group. The study found that depressive symptomatology in PLHIV was associated with poorer dietary nutrient intake. A multidisciplinary model of care that includes a nutrition assessment is recommended for the management of PLHIV with depression to reduce the risk of associated nutritional problems.
Keywords
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
