Suicide attempts among people living with HIV in France

Marie Préau (1, 2, 3) , Anne Deborah Bouhnik (3, 2) , Patrick Peretti-Watel (2) , Yolanda Obadia (3, 2) , Bruno Spire (3, 2)

1 Psychology
2 INSERM Research Unit 379 "Epidemiology and Social Sciences applied to medical innovation",
3 ORS PACA

Objectives: This study examined the prevalence and characteristics of attempted suicide (AS) among a representative sample of French Human Immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infected individuals. Method: In 2003, a face-to-face survey was conducted among people living with HIV (PLWHA) selected in a random, stratified sample of French hospital departments. Among solicited individuals, 2,932 agreed to participate and were asked if they had ever AS. Results: Among the respondents, 23% had AS. Female gender, younger age, native French citizenship, reporting household financial difficulties, having been HIV-contaminated through homosexual contact or through IDU and suffering from lipodystrophy-related symptoms were all independently associated with AS. HIV-discrimination and the lack of social support from family remained independently associated with AS. Conclusions: The findings indicate a high level of AS among PLWHA and emphasize the multiple roles of factors associated with living with HIV, together with socio-demographic factors. Our results enable the possibility for vulnerable groups to be targeted for specific future interventions in order to prevent AS.

Mots clés: Life Sciences

Marie Préau, Anne Deborah Bouhnik, Patrick Peretti-Watel, Yolanda Obadia, Bruno Spire. Suicide attempts among people living with HIV in France. AIDS Care, 2008, 20 (08), pp.917-924. ⟨10.1080/09540120701777249⟩. ⟨hal-00513440⟩