Background: Depression is one of the most common neuropsychiatric complications of HIV disease, and in turn it is associated with worse HIV-related outcomes. Data on depression among HIV-infected patients in Cameroon are scarce. In this study, we report the prevalence and correlates of depressive symptoms among newly diagnosed HIV-infected patients in Yaoundé, Cameroon. Methods: Interviews were conducted with 100 newly diagnosed HIV-infected patients at three referral hospitals of Yaoundé. Depression was assessed using the nine-item Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9). A positive depression screen was defined as PHQ-9 score greater than 9. Results: The overall prevalence of depressive symptoms was 63% (95% CI: 53.2 to 71.8), the majority having symptoms corresponding to moderate depression. Multiple logistic regression analysis showed that probable depressed patients were more likely than those who were not depressed to have had experience of alcohol abuse (OR: 19.03, 95% CI 3.11-375.85; p = 0.0083), and a 100 CD4 cells/mm3 fewer was associated with a 2.9 times increase of the odds of probable depression (95% CI 1.88-4.84; p < 0.0001). Conclusions: Our findings indicate a high prevalence of depressive symptoms in newly diagnosed HIV-infected patients in our setting, and their association with alcohol abuse and severe immunosuppression. This study also highlights the necessity to integrate mental health interventions into routine HIV clinical care in Cameroon.

We investigated the determinants of sputum culture non-conversion following intensive phase of treatment, and assessed the effects on the outcome among patients treated for a first episode of smear positive tuberculosis (TB).

Background: Determinants of extrapulmonary involvement during pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) have not been extensively investigated. We assessed the prevalence and determinants of extrapulmonary involvement during PTB in a Sub-Saharan African country with a high prevalence of both TB and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. Methods: The medical records of patients aged ≥ 15 y, admitted for a first episode of TB to the Pneumology Service of Yaoundé Jamot Hospital, Cameroon, between 2009 and 2010 were considered. Determinants of extrapulmonary involvement were investigated through logistic regression. Results: A total of 984 patients (58.9% male), with a median age (25^th–75^th percentiles) of 32 (25–41) y were admitted for a first episode of TB, including 629 (63.9%) with isolated PTB, 127 (12.9%) with isolated extrapulmonary TB (EPTB), and 228 (23.2%) with both PTB and EPTB (PTB/EPTB). Therefore, the prevalence of EPTB among those with PTB was 26.6% (228/857). The main determinants of EPTB among patients with PTB were male sex (adjusted odds ratio (OR) 2.71, 95% confidence interval (95% CI) 1.71–4.03), HIV infection (OR 2.20, 95% CI 1.36–3.55), absence of fibrotic lung lesions (OR 1.96, 95% CI 1.23–3.14), smear-negative PTB (OR 7.20, 95% CI 4.13–12.56), anaemia (OR 1.60, 95% CI 1.03–2.50), and leukopenia (OR 2.59, 95% CI 1.12–5.98). Conclusions: About a quarter of patients with PTB in this setting also have extrapulmonary involvement. EPTB is less contagious, less frequent than PTB, and less well addressed by programs in developing countries, while its identification is important for optimizing care. The presence of determinants of EPTB among patients with PTB should motivate active investigation of extrapulmonary involvement in order to improve management.

Tobacco is the most important avoidable risk for non communicable diseases. While tobacco consumption is stable or declining in developed countries, it is increasing in the developing world with a rate of 3.4 % per annum. The objective of this study was to estimate the prevalence and factors associated with cigarette smoking among college students. A cross-sectional study was conducted from December 2012 to April 2013 in secondary schools in Douala, Cameroon. A self-administered questionnaire was used to collect sociodemographic data, smoking behavior and peer smoking among college students. Logistic regression analyses was employed to identify factors associated with cigarette smoking. Of a total of 2623 students included, 1579 (60.2 %) were female. The mean age of participants was 19.2 ± 2.53 years. The prevalence of current smoking was 11.2 % [95 % confidence interval (CI) 10 – 12], with 20 % in males and 5.3 % in females. Cigarette smoking was with significantly associated with friends smoking [Odds ratio (OR) 6.66; 95 % CI 4.69 – 9.45)], male gender (OR 3.61; 95 % CI 2.52 – 5.16), increase in age (OR 1.10; 1.03 – 1.17), parental smoking 1.69 (1.04 – 2.76), and attending general education (OR 1.85; 1.23 – 2.78). Cigarette smoking constitutes a significant health hazard in college students in Douala. Youth population and especially male students should be continuously targeted by preventive measures and sensitization campaigns against tobacco use. Parents should be aware on the influence of their smoking behavior on initiation of smoking in their children and should be encouraged to quit smoking.

Children and adolescents still lag behind adults in accessing antiretroviral therapy (ART), which is largely due to their limited access to HIV testing services. This study compares the acceptability, feasibility and effectiveness of targeted versus blanket provider-initiated testing and counseling (PITC) among children and adolescents in Cameroon. During a 6-month period in three hospitals in Cameroon, we invited HIV-positive parents to have their biological children (6 weeks-19 years) tested for HIV (targeted PITC). During that same period and in the same hospitals, we also systematically offered HIV testing to all children evaluated at the outpatient department (blanket PITC). Children of consenting parents were tested for HIV, and positive cases were enrolled on ART. We compared the acceptability, feasibility and effectiveness of targeted and blanket PITC using Chi-square test at 5% significant level. We enrolled 1240 and 2459 eligible parents in the targeted PITC (tPITC) and blanket PITC (bPITC) group, and 99.7% and 98.8% of these parents accepted the offer to have their children tested for HIV, respectively. Out of the 1990 and 2729 children enrolled in the tPITC and bPITC group, 56.7% and 90.3% were tested for HIV (p < 0.0001), respectively. The HIV positivity rate was 3.5% (CI:2.4–4.5) and 1.6% (CI:1.1–2.1) in the tPITC and bPITC (p = 0.0008), respectively. This finding suggests that the case detection was two times higher in tPITC compared to bPITC, or alternatively, 29 and 63 children have to be tested to identify one HIV case with the implementation of tPITC and bPITC, respectively. The majority (84.8%) of HIV-positive children in the tPITC group were diagnosed earlier at WHO stage 1, and cases were mostly diagnosed at WHO stage 3 (39.1%) (p < 0.0001) in the bPITC group. Among the children who tested HIV-positive, 85.0% and 52.5% from the tPITC and bPITC group respectively, were enrolled on ART (p = 0.0018). The tPITC and bPITC strategies demonstrated notable high HIV testing acceptance. tPITC was superior to bPITC in terms of case detection, case detection earliness and linkage to care. These findings indicate that tPITC is effective in case detection and linkage of children and adolescents to ART. Trial registration Number: NCT03024762 . Name of Registry: ClinicalTrial.gov. Date registration: January 19, 2017 (‘retrospectively registered’). Date of enrolment first patient: 15/07/2015.