Physical activity counselling in women with HIV/AIDS and suicidal ideation: a secondary analysis of a real-world intervention in Ugandan HIV counselling centres.

INTRODUCTION

people with HIV/AIDS have higher rates of suicidal ideation than the general population. Consequently, HIV counselling settings should implement suicide risk reduction initiatives. Physical activity (PA) counselling could be a relevant add-on intervention. The aim of this secondary analysis from a single-arm pre- and post-study exploring the efficacy of PA counselling for HIV/AIDS patients with mental health problems was to investigate the efficacy of PA counselling on reducing suicidal ideation.

METHODS

out of 41 participants in an 8-week PA counselling intervention, 15 participants reported suicidal ideation. These 15 (15♀, median age=42 years, interquartile range=24 years) participants completed the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test -10 (AUDIT-10), and the Simple Physical Activity Questionnaire (SIMPAQ) pre- and immediately post-intervention.

RESULTS

the prevalence of suicidal ideation (PHQ-9 item 9≥1) dropped to 20% post-intervention, i.e. only three patients with HIV still reported suicidal ideation. Also, following the intervention significant (P<0.05) increases in walking and incidental PA (SIMPAQ) levels, and reductions in depressive and alcohol abuse symptoms were observed.

CONCLUSION

our data demonstrate that PA counselling might be promising in reducing suicidal ideation in most HIV patients in low-resourced settings. Randomized controlled trials are warranted to confirm these beneficial findings.