PEOPLE with an HIV diagnosis are more likely to develop a mental health disorder, such as anxiety and depression, researchers found. Patients who were not receiving treatment for HIV were at an even higher risk.
Study author Paddy Ssentongo, Penn State College, Pennsylvania, USA, stated: “We wished to investigate whether HIV treatment mitigates the risk of mental health disease among people living with HIV.” Ssentongo and colleagues performed a real-world study using data collected from the Merative MarketScanTM research database (Merative, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA). They were able to identify patients with or without HIV, and used the multivariable stratified Cox proportional hazards regression model to examine the association of HIV treatment status with mental health disorders. The effect of antiretroviral therapy on the risk of developing a mental health condition was also assessed.
Data collected from 313,539 patients with and without HIV were included in the analysis. There were 46,235 cases of mental health disorders reported. Results indicated that people with HIV had a higher risk of having a mental health disorder (adjusted hazard ratio: 1.85; 95% confidence interval: 1.79–1.92). The risk was further increased in patients with HIV who were not receiving treatment (adjusted hazard ratio: 2.7; 95% confidence interval: 2.59–2.82). Stronger associations between HIV and mental health disorders were also found in patients who were male compared to females, aged 18–34 years compared to 55–63 years, and who were not classified as overweight or obese.
Study authors concluded that screening for mental health disorders should be conducted in patients with HIV, and emphasised that treatment of people with HIV can mitigate the risk of developing a mental health condition.
