Abstract

Since its discovery, the expansion of HIV/AIDS epidemic has been considered an issue of great concern. Even along the advances in treatment and the increase in life expectancy of patients, there are still several implications involved in the infection and its evolutionary process which need deeper studies. One of these implications is the combination between the impact of the disease and the mental disorders. The present study aims to evaluate the levels of depression and anxiety of HIV/AIDS in-patient and also searching a combination of these levels with the degrees of T-CD4 lymphocyte. The sample included 46 HIV/AIDS in-patient admitted to the Hospital of Infectious Diseases (Hospital de Infectologia) in São Paulo. The results have indicated the prevalence of depression and anxiety symptoms, mainly on women, and the non-combination between the T-CD4 classification and the level of symptomatology, besides the combination between these symptomatologies. For future studies it is suggested to build simplified tracking tools, specifically designed for this population.

Key words: HIV, AIDS, depression, anxiety, T-lymphocyte.