Emotional and behavioral disturbances in school going HIV positive children attending HIV clinic
Joshi, D.; Tiwari, M.K.; Kannan, V.; Dalal, S.S.; Mathai, S.S.
Medical Journal Armed Forces India 73(1): 18-22
2017
ISSN/ISBN: 0377-1237 PMID: 28123240 DOI: 10.1016/j.mjafi.2016.12.002
Accession: 059677124
To study the emotional and behavioral disturbances (EBD) in school going HIV positive children attending HIV center in a tertiary care hospital. This cross-sectional study was conducted on 258 HIV infected children between 6 and 16 years of age, 200 were on Anti-retroviral therapy (ART) and 58 were not on ART. They were evaluated for EBD by using Pictorial Pediatric Symptom Checklist (PPSC) screening tool. A cut-off score of 28 was taken as significant for detecting early EBD. The prevalence of EBD in our study is 11.2%. Demographic and disease related profile were assessed for correlation with EBD. Type of family (p = 0.023), school attendance (p = 0.034), school performance (p = 0.045), and CD4 count (p = 0.015) were detected to have significant association with early manifestation of EBD in the study group. HIV positive children who have low CD4 count, poor school attendance, and performance are at a higher risk of being detected with EBD. Screening with PPSC to identify EBD in HIV positive children attending HIV clinic in a hospital setting could help in early diagnosis and management.