Psychosocial impact in children with hiv infection

Objective: The objective of the present study was to assess the psychological impact of children
living with HIV/AIDS in India
Materials and Method: A group of 23 children ranging from 11 to 15 years with confirmed
diagnosis of HIV were part of the study. Children were divided into 2 groups with 11 in group 1 and
12 children in group 2. A structured in-depth interview and focused group discussion (FGD) were
used to assess the psycho-social impact in children. Group 1 underwent in-depth interview and group
2 underwent FGD.
Results: The mean age of participants was 13.6 ±1.6 years; most of the children completed primary
education. All children belonged to the lower socio economic status, 87.5% of the children hailed
from rural area while 9.1 % of them were urban background, 3 % of the children had mixed exposure.
72.7% were male 27.3% were female. The major psychosocial impacts expressed by children were
emotional, behavioural and cognitive. Other than psychological, majority also expressed their
physical restrictions.
Conclusion: The psychosocial impacts and physical restrictions by the infected children were specific
to the socio cultural back ground. The results of the present study emphasis on the specific assessment
protocol, rather than a generalised assessment tool for better intervention