Levels of self-reported depression and anxiety among HIV-positive patients in Albania: a cross-sectional study.
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AIM: To gain an initial perspective of mental health issues facing the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)-positive population at the University Hospital Center of Tirana (UHCT) HIV/AIDS Ambulatory Clinic. METHODS: From June-August 2009, we conducted semi-structured interviews with 79 patients (93% response rate) at the UHCT HIV/AIDS Ambulatory Clinic. The interviews assessed patient-reported histories of mental health diagnoses, patients' demographics, and current emotional health status. RESULTS: The percentage of patients who reported a history of diagnosis of depression or anxiety was high - 62.3% and 82.3%, respectively. Factors associated with a history of depression included having been diagnosed with anxiety (P<0.001), having a higher number of barriers to care (P<0.001), having a higher number of current medical and social needs (P<0.001), or having not obtained antiretroviral therapy (ART) abroad (P=0.004). Factors associated with a history of anxiety included having been on first-line ART (P=0.008), having been diagnosed with HIV for shorter periods of time (P=0.043), having been diagnosed with depression (P<0.001), having a higher number of current medical and social needs (P=0.035), or having not obtained ART abroad (P=0.003). CONCLUSIONS: Mental health problems are widespread among the known HIV-positive patient population in Albania. The high prevalences of anxiety and depression and of dual diagnoses of these conditions suggest the need for more mental health care for HIV-positive patients in Albania. (+info)
Association study of single-nucleotide polymorphisms in FASLG, JMJDIA, LOC203413, TEX15, BRDT, OR2W3, INSR, and TAS2R38 genes with male infertility.
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Osteological proofs of torture and cruelty: forensic findings form a secret cemetery in Tirana, Albania.
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Two decades after the fall of the communism in Albania, documenting the human rights violations and proving torture and cruelties suffered from ex-politically persecuted and dissidents of the regime, is still a societal priority. Due to several reasons, the judicial way toward redressing the historical injustices has been slowed down. This is mainly because of the lack of proper documentation of torture, mass executions and extrajudicial ill-treatment. Several governmental and civil society organizations have tried to define the issue, but perpetrators have rarely, if ever, been brought to court. Secret cemeteries and mass graves have recently been found in different zones of Albania, and victims exhumed; thus proofs of torture and ill-treatments are being made widely known, potentially creating the necessary legal conditions for punishing the perpetrators and for identifying victims. In the present paper, authors describe osteological forensic findings from Linza secret cemetery in Tirana, where several ante mortem fractures prove the severe and cruel ill-treatment the victims suffered before the execution that was usually by bullet shot in the posterior region of the skull. (+info)
Genetic diversity of sheep breeds from Albania, Greece, and Italy assessed by mitochondrial DNA and nuclear polymorphisms (SNPs).
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