People living with HIV/aids have several persistent symptoms that develop during the course of illness, with pain being one of those symptoms that may be related to changes in health-related quality of life and mood. Objective: to analyze the prevalence of pain people living with HIV/aids and to analyze their relationship with depressive symptoms  and health-related quality of life. Method: Cross-sectional study. A sociodemographic and clinical questionnaire, the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), the Brief Pain Inventory and the HIV/aids Targeted Quality of Life were used. Participants: 302 people living with HIV/aids, in the age group from 18 to 59 years, treated at a specialized care service. Results: 59.27% reported pain of mild intensity. As for multiple logistic regression, the one-point increase in the Targeted the Quality of Life HIV/aids instrument decreased the chance of pain reports by 4%. Women had a 79% higher chance of reporting pain and 2.07 times more likely to report moderate or severe pain than men. As for schooling, a higher level of school education presented a 35% less chance of reporting pain, scoring  ≥ 9 on the PHQ-9 had a chance to report 2.11 times greater than those who scored <9  and 2, 48 times more likely to be moderate and severe. Conclusions: There is a high prevalence of pain in people living HIV/aids, the prevalence of pain in these people has a negative impact on health-related quality of life and is a significant factor in the development of major depressive episodes.

PREVALENCE OF PAIN IN PEOPLE LIVING WITH HIV/AIDS