Barriers to health-care and psychological distress among mothers living with HIV in Quebec (Canada)

Health-care providers play a major role in providing good quality care and in preventing psychological distress amongmothers living with HIV (MLHIV). The objectives of this study are to explore the impact of health-care services andsatisfaction with care providers on psychological distress in MLHIV. One hundred MLHIV were recruited fromcommunity and clinical settings in the province of Quebec (Canada). Prevalence estimation of clinical psychologicaldistress and univariate and multivariable logistic regression models were performed to predict clinical psychologicaldistress. Forty-five percent of the participants reported clinical psychological distress. In the multivariable regression, thefollowing variables were significantly associated with psychological distress while controlling for sociodemographicvariables: resilience, quality of communication with the care providers, resources, and HIV disclosure concerns. Themultivariate results support the key role of personal, structural,and medical resources in understanding psychologicaldistress among MLHIV. Interventions that can support the psychological health of MLHIV are discussed.