Pain in clients attending a South African voluntary counselling and testing centre was frequent and extensive but did not depend on HIV status

Abstract

AbstractBackgroundThe frequency of pain is reported to be high in people living with HIV (PLWH), but valid comparisons between PLWH and HIV-negative cohorts are rare. We investigated whether HIV infection influenced frequency and characteristics of pain in adults undergoing voluntary testing for HIV.MethodsParticipants were recruited from a HIV voluntary counselling and testing (VCT) centre at the Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital, Soweto, South Africa. Pain was assessed using the Wisconsin Brief Pain Questionnaire. Depressive and anxiety symptomatology was determined using the Hopkins Symptom checklist-25. We then stratified by HIV status.ResultsData from 535 black South Africans were analysed: HIV-infected n=70, HIV uninfected n=465. Overall, frequency of pain was high with 59% (95%CI: 55; 63, n: 316/535) of participants reporting pain, with no difference related to HIV status: HIV-infected 50% (95% CI: 37; 61, n: 35/70), HIV-uninfected 60% (95%CI: 56; 65, n: 281/465). Pain intensity and number of pain sites were similar between the groups as were symptoms of anxiety and depression: mean HSCL-25 1.72 (95% CI 1.57; 1.87) HIV-infected participants and 1.68 (95% CI: 1.63; 1.73) HIV-uninfected participants. Univariate analysis showed female sex and greater depressive and anxiety symptomatology associated with having pain. In a conservative multivariable model, only depressive and anxiety symptomatology was retained in the model.ConclusionThe high frequency of pain found in both HIV infected and uninfected individuals presenting at a VCT centre was more likely to be associated with depression and anxiety, than with the presence or absence of HIV.