Table 1 Population, Concept, Context [PCC]

P - Population

‘Men who have sex with men living with HIV’ refers to HIV-seropositive males who are 18 years and older and engage in sex with men regardless of their sexual orientation, romantic attraction or identity [5].

C - Concepts

Depression: refers to a mental disorder ‘characterized by low mood, diminished self-worth, pessimistic thoughts, poor concentration, and biological symptoms [that of poor appetite and sleep difficulties] and increased withdrawal from social activities’ [4]. The causes of depression include stigma due to sexual orientation, HIV diagnosis and low self-esteem, chemical imbalances, stress, treatment and isolation [2, 15,16,17,18,19,20,21,22,23].

C - Context

Sub-Saharan Africa: Includes 46 countries that are geographically located south of the Saharan desert [44]. Sub-Saharan Africa comprises of 46 of Africa’s 54 countries and excludes Algeria, Djibouti, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Somalia, Sudan and Tunisia.

Sources of evidence

Grey and empirical literature containing evidence of depression and its causal factors in HIV-seropositive MSM living in sub-Saharan Africa.

Publication Year range: 2010 and 2020

Language: All