Résumé
Background:Psychological and social support to adolescents living with HIV remains undocumented and unaddressed in Central Africa. This study aimed to assess effectiveness of a peer-facilitated community-based support in improving mental health among Cameroonian adolescents living with vertically acquired HIV (ALHIV).Setting:The study was conducted in a national referral hospital in Yaounde, Cameroon.Methods:This was a parallel, randomized, controlled trial in ALHIV. The control arm only received routine support in the health facility; the intervention arm benefited from community-based and peer-facilitated support. The endpoints were mean mental health scores' variations from month 0 to month 15, estimated based on validated French versions mental health scales, and using independent sample Student t test.Results:In total, 305 ALHIV were recruited at a mean age of 15.0 years, including 162 women (53.1%) and 153 individuals in the intervention arm, in whom symptoms of severe depression (26.9%), high or very high anxiety (28.9%), and low self-esteem (84.9%). From month 0 to month 15, there was increase in self-esteem [mean between-arm difference (M) (SD) = +0.5 (SD: 1.0); significance degree (P) = 0.6543], decrease in symptoms of depression [M = -0.2 (SD: 1.4); P = 0.9098], and decrease in symptoms of anxiety [M = -1.8 (SD: 3.4); P = 0.7338], without significant differences between the 2 arms.Conclusions:This study showed benefits in anxiety and depression reduction and improvement in self-esteem in both arms, without any significant difference, suggesting that regardless of whether psychosocial interventions are implemented in clinic or in the community, both are of benefit to patients.