Cargando…

Mental Health and Perceived Access to Care among People Who Inject Drugs in Athens, Greece

Poor mental health among human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-positive people who inject drugs (PWID) may contribute to stigma, and together they act as barriers to medical care. This analysis aims to examine factors associated with the mental health of PWID and their network contacts, and the associa...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Pampaka, Despina, Pantavou, Katerina, Giallouros, George, Pavlitina, Eirini, Williams, Leslie D., Piovani, Daniele, Bonovas, Stefanos, Nikolopoulos, Georgios K.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8002050/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33808991
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/jcm10061181
_version_ 1783671372988284928
author Pampaka, Despina
Pantavou, Katerina
Giallouros, George
Pavlitina, Eirini
Williams, Leslie D.
Piovani, Daniele
Bonovas, Stefanos
Nikolopoulos, Georgios K.
author_facet Pampaka, Despina
Pantavou, Katerina
Giallouros, George
Pavlitina, Eirini
Williams, Leslie D.
Piovani, Daniele
Bonovas, Stefanos
Nikolopoulos, Georgios K.
author_sort Pampaka, Despina
collection PubMed
description Poor mental health among human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-positive people who inject drugs (PWID) may contribute to stigma, and together they act as barriers to medical care. This analysis aims to examine factors associated with the mental health of PWID and their network contacts, and the association of poor mental health with the experience of HIV-related stigmatizing events, with HIV-related social support, and with perceived access to care. Data were collected during the Transmission Reduction Intervention Project (TRIP) conducted in Athens, Greece (2013–2015). PWID (n = 292; n = 122 HIV-positive) were interviewed both at baseline and follow-up. Items of depression, anxiety, and general positive affect subscales of the Mental Health Inventory were used to explore the psychological distress and well-being of participants at follow-up. Items of the Access to Care Scale were used to evaluate perceived access to medical care at baseline and follow-up. Linear regression showed that unemployment was positively related to depression (β = 1.49, p = 0.019), while injecting drug use was a risk factor for a low general positive affect score (β = −3.21, p = 0.015). Poor mental health was not linked to HIV-related stigma or social support. Positive perception of access to care was associated in multivariable analyses with low depression (β = −0.22, p = 0.049). The perceived access to care score improved from baseline to follow-up (p = 0.019) and HIV-positive participants had a higher score than HIV-negative participants. Future interventions should include targets to improve the mental well-being of participants, reduce psychosocial distress, and minimize perceived barriers to accessing medical care.
format Online
Article
Text
id pubmed-8002050
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2021
publisher MDPI
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-80020502021-03-28 Mental Health and Perceived Access to Care among People Who Inject Drugs in Athens, Greece Pampaka, Despina Pantavou, Katerina Giallouros, George Pavlitina, Eirini Williams, Leslie D. Piovani, Daniele Bonovas, Stefanos Nikolopoulos, Georgios K. J Clin Med Article Poor mental health among human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-positive people who inject drugs (PWID) may contribute to stigma, and together they act as barriers to medical care. This analysis aims to examine factors associated with the mental health of PWID and their network contacts, and the association of poor mental health with the experience of HIV-related stigmatizing events, with HIV-related social support, and with perceived access to care. Data were collected during the Transmission Reduction Intervention Project (TRIP) conducted in Athens, Greece (2013–2015). PWID (n = 292; n = 122 HIV-positive) were interviewed both at baseline and follow-up. Items of depression, anxiety, and general positive affect subscales of the Mental Health Inventory were used to explore the psychological distress and well-being of participants at follow-up. Items of the Access to Care Scale were used to evaluate perceived access to medical care at baseline and follow-up. Linear regression showed that unemployment was positively related to depression (β = 1.49, p = 0.019), while injecting drug use was a risk factor for a low general positive affect score (β = −3.21, p = 0.015). Poor mental health was not linked to HIV-related stigma or social support. Positive perception of access to care was associated in multivariable analyses with low depression (β = −0.22, p = 0.049). The perceived access to care score improved from baseline to follow-up (p = 0.019) and HIV-positive participants had a higher score than HIV-negative participants. Future interventions should include targets to improve the mental well-being of participants, reduce psychosocial distress, and minimize perceived barriers to accessing medical care. MDPI 2021-03-12 /pmc/articles/PMC8002050/ /pubmed/33808991 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/jcm10061181 Text en © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Pampaka, Despina
Pantavou, Katerina
Giallouros, George
Pavlitina, Eirini
Williams, Leslie D.
Piovani, Daniele
Bonovas, Stefanos
Nikolopoulos, Georgios K.
Mental Health and Perceived Access to Care among People Who Inject Drugs in Athens, Greece
title Mental Health and Perceived Access to Care among People Who Inject Drugs in Athens, Greece
title_full Mental Health and Perceived Access to Care among People Who Inject Drugs in Athens, Greece
title_fullStr Mental Health and Perceived Access to Care among People Who Inject Drugs in Athens, Greece
title_full_unstemmed Mental Health and Perceived Access to Care among People Who Inject Drugs in Athens, Greece
title_short Mental Health and Perceived Access to Care among People Who Inject Drugs in Athens, Greece
title_sort mental health and perceived access to care among people who inject drugs in athens, greece
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8002050/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33808991
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/jcm10061181
work_keys_str_mv AT pampakadespina mentalhealthandperceivedaccesstocareamongpeoplewhoinjectdrugsinathensgreece
AT pantavoukaterina mentalhealthandperceivedaccesstocareamongpeoplewhoinjectdrugsinathensgreece
AT giallourosgeorge mentalhealthandperceivedaccesstocareamongpeoplewhoinjectdrugsinathensgreece
AT pavlitinaeirini mentalhealthandperceivedaccesstocareamongpeoplewhoinjectdrugsinathensgreece
AT williamsleslied mentalhealthandperceivedaccesstocareamongpeoplewhoinjectdrugsinathensgreece
AT piovanidaniele mentalhealthandperceivedaccesstocareamongpeoplewhoinjectdrugsinathensgreece
AT bonovasstefanos mentalhealthandperceivedaccesstocareamongpeoplewhoinjectdrugsinathensgreece
AT nikolopoulosgeorgiosk mentalhealthandperceivedaccesstocareamongpeoplewhoinjectdrugsinathensgreece