The Combined Roles of Nonsomatic Depressive Symptomatology, Neurocognitive Function, and Current Substance Use in Medication Adherence in Adults Living With HIV Infection.
Travis M Scott, Desiree Byrd, Miguel Arce Rentería and 4 others
PMID 28988793WHAT IT FOUND
In 40 adults living with HIV, depressive symptoms not tied to physical complaints were associated with worse self-reported HIV medication adherence.
Global neurocognitive test scores and current substance use disorder status were not associated with adherence.
Key findings
01Suboptimal adherers reported higher non-somatic depressive symptom scores than optimal adherers (mean 5.38 versus 2.00).
02In the combined model, each 1-point increase in non-somatic depressive symptomatology was associated with 1.47 times greater likelihood of suboptimal adherence (95% CI 1.15 to 2.04).
03Current substance use disorder status and global neurocognitive function did not significantly contribute to the combined adherence model.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The study included only 40 participants, so it may have been too small to detect effects of global neurocognitive function or current substance use status. Adherence was self-reported over 30 days, not measured with an electronic cap or other objective method. The sample was 70% Latina/o and drawn from the New York City area, so the findings may not generalize to other racial/ethnic groups or locations. Only current substance use disorder status was analyzed, not past substance use disorder history. The study did not ask whether participants were receiving psychiatric or substance use treatment, so treatment status was not accounted for.
Declared interests
The participants were drawn from a National Institutes of Mental Health-funded medication adherence study. No author conflict-of-interest declaration is reported.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read the 1.47 times greater likelihood as proof that reducing depressive symptoms will improve HIV medication adherence. This was a small observational study using self-reported adherence, and it did not test whether treating depression improves adherence.