Clinical and psychosocial profile of HIV orphans in Northern Karnataka – a longitudinal study

• Main Authors: Mahesh.V, Dattatreya D Bant, Geetha V Bathija
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Makhdoomi Printers 2013-07-01
• Series: Global Journal of Medicine and Public Health
• Subjects: HIV Orphans; Psycho-social profile; Child Health behavior checklist (CBCL)
• Online Access: http://www.gjmedph.org/uploads/O2-Vo2No3.pdf

Background India currently has an estimated 220,000 children infected by HIV/AIDS and is home to the largest number of AIDS Orphans only next to South Africa in the world. The pandemic not only deprives Orphans of their rights to enjoy a good or a normal childhood, but it also has deleterious effects on their chances of survival or well-being. Thus the future of these children orphaned by the AIDS epidemic addresses a key social issue. Hence this study was done with the objectives, to assess the Demographic profile, Clinical profile and psycho-social profile of HIV Orphans. Methods A Longitudinal study on 82 HIV orphans in the age group 5 to 15yrs was conducted after obtaining informed consent from their caregivers for duration of one year from at Anti retroviral therapy (ART) centre KIMS, Hubli. Clinical profile was assessed by WHO staging of HIV, Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) was used to assess Psycho-Social Profile. Chi-square test, paired t test are the tests of significance for qualitative and quantitative variables respectively. Results Mother to Child was the most common mode of transmission in majority of cases i.e 97%. Among the orphans 60% of them were deprived of mother’s care i.e Double orphans and maternal orphans. Majority of subjects i.e 29 (35.4%) were in stage 2 of WHO clinical staging. 27(32.9%) were in mild immunosuppression at 350 to 499 Absolute lymphocytic count and CD4% in the range of 20 to 25% in 26(31.7%). A statistically significant increase of psychosocial problem in orphans was observed during the follow-up. Conclusion It can be concluded that during the follow-up Psycho-social problems increased in Orphans significantly.