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Depression Treatment Enhances Adherence to Antiretroviral Therapy: a Meta-Analysis

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Annals of Behavioral Medicine

Abstract

Background

Depression is a risk factor for nonadherence to HIV/AIDS treatment.

Purpose

A meta-analysis was conducted to examine whether treatment of depression and psychological distress improves antiretroviral therapy adherence.

Methods

PubMed and PsycINFO databases were systematically searched for relevant articles. Studies that reported an association between depression treatment (or an intervention with a component addressing mental health) and antiretroviral adherence were included.

Results

Across 29 studies of 12,243 persons living with HIV/AIDS, treatment of depression and psychological distress improved antiretroviral adherence (p < 0.001). The odds of a person adhering were 83 % better if he/she was treated for depression. Greater improvements in adherence were found for samples with lower CD4 counts or more severe depression, for interventions specifically targeting depression (versus addressing mental health as a secondary objective), longer treatments, and observational studies.

Conclusions

These findings support the need for detection and treatment of depression among persons living with HIV/AIDS.

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Acknowledgments

Nancy Sin was supported by Institutional Training Grant 5T32AG000212-20 from the National Institute on Aging. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the funding source. Sin is now affiliated with The Pennsylvania State University. We thank Bob Rosenthal for his statistical advice.

Conflict of Interest

The authors have no conflict of interest to disclose.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA

    Nancy L. Sin PhD

  2. Department of Psychology, University of California, Riverside, CA, USA

    M. Robin DiMatteo PhD

  3. Center for Healthy Aging, The Pennsylvania State University, 422 Biobehavioral Health Building, University Park, PA, 16802, USA

    Nancy L. Sin PhD

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  1. Nancy L. Sin PhD
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  2. M. Robin DiMatteo PhD
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Correspondence to Nancy L. Sin PhD.

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Sin, N.L., DiMatteo, M.R. Depression Treatment Enhances Adherence to Antiretroviral Therapy: a Meta-Analysis. ann. behav. med. 47, 259–269 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12160-013-9559-6

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