Sustained mental health impacts of COVID-19 among people living with and without HIV in the Dominican Republic

INTRODUCTION: Mental health impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic are clearly documented, particularly in marginalized populations, but longer-term impacts are unknown. This study explored the sustained mental health of the COVID-19 pandemic among people living with HIV (PLHIV) and people without HIV receiving care at a primary care center in La Romana, Dominican Republic from November 2021 to February 2022. METHODOLOGY: Using stratified random sampling, we recruited PLHIV and people without HIV for a one-time telephone survey, employing validated tools to measure COVID-19 impact, anxiety, depression and perceived stress. We examined the association between COVID-19 impact and mental health symptoms using multivariate regression, controlling for HIV status and demographics factors. RESULTS: A total of 318 clients were recruited (155, 48.7% PLHIV). Higher COVID-19 impact significantly predicted increased anxiety, depression and perceived stress, where unemployed individuals and younger adults remained more vulnerable. PLHIV reported higher rates of anxiety than people without HIV (21.3% vs. 12.1%, p=0.05). People without HIV identified COVID-related factors as their biggest source of worry in the last six months (57.7%), compared to 31.6% of PLHIV (p