Cognitive Impairment/Dementia in HIV Patients in a Faith Based Clinic

Human Immuno-deficiency (HIV) Virus is usually among other disorders associated with cognitive impairment and dementia adding to the burden of the disease in affected individuals and the quality of care. A cross-sectional descriptive study was carried out in a non-governmental organization caring for patients with the disease in Jos, North Central Nigeria. A total of 220 patients attending the Faith Alive Clinic in Jos were randomly selected and studied using instruments such as the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) Modified – HIV Associated Dementia Scale (M-HDS) and the Center for Epidemiologic Study Depression Scale – Revised (CES-D). Most of the patients were female (60.9%), male 31.9% with 48.6% married. Analysis of the different subscales of M-HAD the MMSE reveals significant impairment Psychomotor, memory and recall and the construction functions of the subjects P ≤ 0.000. The prevalence of cognitive impairment/dementia in the study population was 70.9% on M-HDS and 35% on MMSE. The implication of these findings is that clinicians should have reasonable index of suspicion when managing patients that are HIV Sero-positive to be able to identify patients with cognitive problems.