A new study by scientists at the Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) shows that symptoms of depression are moderately associated with death among people with HIV in comparison with those without HIV infection.

Depressive disorders have been associated with increased mortality in persons with chronic diseases, including heart disease, end-stage renal disease and diabetes. 20 to 40 percent of people with HIV suffer from depression in the U.S. Several studies have described increased mortality in HIV patients with depressive disorders; however there is conflicting data in this area.

The team of researchers studies data from the Veteran’s Aging Cohort Study to compare mortality rates between those who were depressed and those who were not. Then, the Boston researchers compared the relationship among, and mortality, among those with HIV and those without HIV. To detect depressive disorders or symptoms the scientists used depressive symptoms questionnaire and clinical diagnosis codes.

The results showed increased mortality by 23% among veterans with HIV with elevated depressive symptoms assessed by the questionnaire, but no by the clinical codes.  In the case of people with depressive symptoms but without HIV, the researchers found a 6% increase mortality using the codes but they did not found an association using the questionnaire.

The researchers believe it is important to detect and treat HIV patients with depression symptoms, as their life expectancy has increased substantially with antivirals.   “Our findings reinforce the need to assess and treat depressive symptoms and major depressive disorder in patients with and without HIV infection to potentially reduce mortality risk,” explained Kaku So-Armah, assistant professor of medicine at BUSM.

The reserachers sid that depression among HIV patients in underdiagnosed. “This needs to be improved; better understanding of barriers to and facilitators of effective depression screening and integration of depression treatment into HIV primary care is needed.”

 

Source: Sience Daily