Sherr, L;
Molloy, A;
Macedo, A;
Croome, N;
Johnson, MA;
(2016)
Ageing and menopause considerations for women with HIV in the UK.
J Virus Erad
, 2
(4)
pp. 215-218.
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Abstract
OBJECTIVES: Treatment rollout has dramatically improved life expectancy for people with HIV and AIDS. Women represent a substantial proportion of patients in the UK (approximately one-third of patients in care are female according to the HIV Annual Report 2014). This study examines psychosocial and biomedical issues for women diagnosed with HIV in the UK, comparing those above and below 45 years of age to examine menopause and ageing issues. METHODS: Consecutive clinic attenders in a large outpatient London HIV clinic were invited to participate in the study. Data were available for 170 (68%) women. In 57 women above the age of 45 data were available regarding menopause detailed insights. RESULTS: Compared with women aged under 45, women >45 years old were significantly less likely to be in a relationship (P=0.01), had higher anxiety scores (P=0.002), more likely to be classified as moderate to severe (25.9% vs 9.1%; χ(2)=6.1, P=0.01). There were no differences in terms of suicidal ideation, which was high for both groups of women (56.6%). Older women had higher psychological symptoms on the MSAS scale form and significantly higher PHQ-9 depression levels. A higher proportion of older women scored above the cut-off point for moderate to severe depression (9.2% vs 21.8%; χ(2)=3.7, P=0.048). Fewer older women had no mental health challenges (26.1% vs 42.4%) and more had multiple comorbidities (P=0.07). CONCLUSIONS: The vast majority of women reported experiencing a variety of physical and psychological menopause-related symptoms and there was a high suicide ideation rate in both groups of women. Over half of the group of menopausal women recorded distressing symptoms such as hot flushes, sweating, decreased sexual desire, back pain, night sweats, avoiding intimacy, involuntary urination and skin changes, yet few sought help. Age-specific, psychosexual and menopause services should be routinely available for women with HIV.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | Ageing and menopause considerations for women with HIV in the UK |
| Location: | England |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| Publisher version: | http://viruseradication.com/journal-details/Ageing... |
| Language: | Finnish |
| Additional information: | © 2016 The Authors. Journal of Virus Eradication published by Mediscript Ltd. This is an open access article published under the terms of a Creative Commons License. |
| Keywords: | HIV, Women, ageing, menopause, mental health |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > Institute for Global Health UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > Institute for Global Health > Infection and Population Health |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1527256 |
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