Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2024 May 1;38(6):887-894.
doi: 10.1097/QAD.0000000000003828. Epub 2023 Dec 29.

The association of changes in depression severity after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and viral nonsuppression among people with HIV

Tarfa Verinumbe  1 , Catherine R Lesko  2 , Richard D Moore  3 , Anthony T Fojo  3 , Jeanne Keruly  1 , LaQuita N Snow  3 , Heidi Hutton  4 , Geetanjali Chander  5 , Jarratt D Pytell  6 , Oluwaseun Falade-Nwulia  1
Affiliations

The association of changes in depression severity after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and viral nonsuppression among people with HIV

Tarfa Verinumbe et al. AIDS. .

Abstract

Objective: This study sought to characterize changes in depressive symptom severity during the COVID-19 pandemic and the association of these changes with HIV viral nonsuppression among people with HIV (PWH).

Design: A clinical cohort study.

Methods: We included PWH in the Johns Hopkins HIV Clinical Cohort who completed the Patient Health Questionnaire 8 (PHQ-8) prepandemic (1 March 2018 to 28 February 2020) and during the COVID-era (1 September 2020 to 28 February 2022). PWH were classified according to depression severity categories prepandemic and during the COVID-era as: consistently depressed (prepandemic PHQ-8 >4 and no change in severity category); consistently nondepressed (prepandemic PHQ-8 ≤4 and no change in severity category); worsened (changed to a higher severity category) and; improved (change to a lower severity category). The association between changes in depressive symptom severity and viral nonsuppression (HIV RNA >200 copies/ml on the earliest viral load measured 7 days before to 12 months after the COVID-era PHQ-8 survey) was assessed using multivariable logistic regression.

Results: Of 793 PWH, mean age was 56 (SD 10) years, 60% were male individuals and 88% were Black. After the onset of the pandemic, 60% were consistently nondepressed, 9% were consistently depressed, 15% worsened and 16% improved. PWH who worsened had 2.47 times the odds of viral nonsuppression (95% CI: 1.09-5.55) compared with the nondepressed group. Associations among other groups were not statistically significant.

Conclusion: Worsening depression during the COVID-era was associated with HIV viral nonsuppression. Strategies to monitor and address depression among PWH may contribute to reduced risk of viral nonsuppression.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

References

    1. CDC. CDC Museum COVID-19 Timeline. In: David J Sencer CDC Museum: In Association with the Smithsonian Institution: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; 2023.
    1. WHO. Weekly epidemiological update on COVID-19 – 30 March 2021. In. Edited by Overview P; 2021.
    1. Hong C, Queiroz A, Hoskin J. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health, associated factors and coping strategies in people living with HIV: a scoping review. J Int AIDS Soc 2023; 26(3):e26060. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Ettman CK, Abdalla SM, Cohen GH, Sampson L, Vivier PM, Galea S. Prevalence of Depression Symptoms in US Adults Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic. JAMA Netw Open 2020; 3(9):e2019686. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Tran BX, Ho RCM, Ho CSH, Latkin CA, Phan HT, Ha GH, et al. Depression among Patients with HIV/AIDS: Research Development and Effective Interventions (GAP(RESEARCH)). Int J Environ Res Public Health 2019; 16(10). - PMC - PubMed

Publication types