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. 2023 Sep 1:336:92-96.
doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2023.05.030. Epub 2023 May 19.

Neuropsychiatric predictors of cognitive functioning over a one-year follow-up period in HIV

Erin E Sundermann  1 , Bin Tang  2 , Michelle Kim  3 , Emily W Paolillo  2 , Robert K Heaton  2 , Raeanne C Moore  2
Affiliations

Neuropsychiatric predictors of cognitive functioning over a one-year follow-up period in HIV

Erin E Sundermann et al. J Affect Disord. .

Abstract

Background: Neuropsychiatric symptoms (NPS) and cognitive impairment are highly prevalent among persons with HIV (PWH). We examined the effect of the most common NPS, depression and anxiety, on cognitive change among PWH and compared these associations to those among persons without HIV (PWoH).

Methods: Participants included 168 PWH and 91 PWoH who completed baseline self-report measures of depression (Beck Depression Inventory-II) and anxiety (Profile of Mood States [POMS] - Tension-anxiety subscale) and completed a comprehensive neurocognitive evaluation at baseline and at 1-year follow-up. Demographically-corrected scores from 15 neurocognitive tests were used to calculate global and domain-specific T-scores. Linear mixed-effects models examined the effect of depression and anxiety and their interaction with HIV-serostatus and time on global T-scores.

Results: There were significant depression-by-HIV and anxiety-by-HIV interactions on global T-scores such that, among PWH only, greater depressive and anxiety symptoms at baseline related to worse global T-scores across visits. Non-significant interactions with time suggest stability in these relationships across visits. Follow-up analyses examining cognitive domains revealed that both the depression-by-HIV and the anxiety-by-HIV interactions were driven by learning and recall.

Limitations: Follow-up was limited to one-year and there were fewer PWoH than PWH, creating a differential in statistical power.

Conclusion: Findings suggest that anxiety and depression have stronger links to worse cognitive functioning in PWH than PWoH, particularly learning and memory, and that these associations seem to persist for at least one-year.

Keywords: Anxiety; Cognitive decline; Depression; HIV; Infectious disease; Neuropsychology.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of competing interest Dr. Raeanne Moore is a co-founder of KeyWise AI, Inc. and a consultant for NeuroUX. The terms of these arrangements have been reviewed and approved by UC San Diego in accordance with its conflict of interest policies. The remaining authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.

Figures

Fig. 1.
Fig. 1.
Neuropsychiatric symptoms at baseline in relation to global T-scores across visits 1 and 2 by HIV-serostatus for (A) anxiety and (B) depression symptoms.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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