The relationship of anxiety and depression symptoms with AIDS knowledge, cognition of risk and sex behavior in young men who have sex with men

Objective To understand the relationship of anxiety and depression with AIDS knowledge, cognition of risk and sex behavior among young men who have sex with men(YMSM). Methods The study was conducted by the snowballs sampling method for the recruitment and serological examination of YMSM aged 15-24 in Mianyang city, Sichuan province.The anxiety and depressive symptoms were assessed by the self-rating anxiety scale (SAS) and the self-rating depression scale (SDS). Chi-square test was used to implement single-factor analysis and non-conditional logistic regression for multiple-factor analysis. Results Totally 356 cases completed the SAS and 355 cases completed the SDS.And the total scores of SAS and SDS were (42.96±10.81) and (45.63±12.40). The detection rates of anxiety and depressive symptoms were 23.60% and 33.24% respectively.There was no statistical difference in the incidence of HIV infection with or without anxiety and depression (χ2=2.235, 1.718, both P>0.05), and there was a statistical difference in the incidence of syphilis infection (χ2=6.840, P <0.05). Multi-factor analysis results showed that HIV infection risk awareness(β=1.101, P=0.015), number of anal sex in nearly 1 week(β=1.111, P=0.005), and the diagnosis of STD in nearly 1 year(β=1.996, P=0.010) were independent factors influencing anxiety symptoms, meanwhile occasional sex in nearly six months(β=0.692, P=0.037), and the number of anal sex in nearly one week(β=0.969, P=0.012) were independent factors in depressive symptoms (P <0.05). Conclusion The detection rate of anxiety and depressive symptoms among YMSM is high.Anxiety and depressive symptoms are related to AIDS related factors, which has certain characteristics to the YMSM sex behavior and is of great health risk.AIDS prevention should combine behavior with psychological intervention. Key words: Men who have sex with men; Anxiety; Depression; AIDS; Related factor