Clinical characteristics and risk behavior as a function of HIV status among heroin users enrolled in methadone treatment in northern Taiwan

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Methadone treatment was introduced in Taiwan in 2006 as a harm-reduction program in response to the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), which is endemic among Taiwanese heroin users. The present study was aimed at examining the clinical and behavioral characteristics of methadone patients in northern Taiwan according to their HIV status.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The study was conducted at four methadone clinics. Participants were patients who had undergone methadone treatment at the clinics and who voluntarily signed a consent form. Between August and November 2008, each participant completed a face-to-face interview that included questions on demographics, risk behavior, quality of life, and psychiatric symptoms. Data on HIV and hepatitis C virus (HCV) infections, methadone dosage, and morphine in the urine were retrieved from patient files on the clinical premises, with permission of the participants.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Of 576 participants, 71 were HIV positive, and 514 had hepatitis C. There were significant differences between the HIV-positive and HIV-negative groups on source of treatment payment, HCV infection, urine test results, methadone dosage, and treatment duration. The results indicate that HIV-negative heroin users were more likely to have sexual intercourse and not use condoms during the 6 months prior to the study. A substantial percent of the sample reported anxiety (21.0%), depression (27.2%), memory loss (32.7%), attempted suicide (32.7%), and administration of psychiatric medications (16.1%). There were no significant differences between the HIV-positive and HIV-negative patients on psychiatric symptoms or quality of life.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>HIV-positive IDUs were comorbid with HCV, indicating the need to refer both HIV- and HCV-infected individuals for treatment in methadone clinics. Currently, there is a gap between psychiatric/psychosocial services and patient symptoms, and more integrated medical services should be provided to heroin-using populations.</p

Can behavioral theory inform the understanding of depression and medication nonadherence among HIV-positive substance users?

Medication adherence is highly predictive of health outcomes across chronic conditions, particularly HIV/AIDS. Depression is consistently associated with worse adherence, yet few studies have sought to understand how depression relates to adherence. This study tested three components of behavioral depression theory—goal-directed activation, positive reinforcement, and environmental punishment—as potential indirect effects in the relation between depressive symptoms and medication nonadherence among low-income, predominantly African American substance users (n = 83). Medication nonadherence was assessed as frequency of doses missed across common reasons for nonadherence. Non-parametric bootstrapping was used to evaluate the indirect effects. Of the three intermediary variables, there was only an indirect effect of environmental punishment; depressive symptoms were associated with greater nonadherence through greater environmental punishment. Goal-directed activation and positive reinforcement were unrelated to adherence. Findings suggest the importance of environmental punishment in the relation between depression and medication adherence and may inform future intervention efforts for this population

Depression and adherence to antiretroviral therapy in low-, middle- and high-income countries : a systematic review and meta-analysis

We investigated the associations between depressive symptoms and adherence to antiretroviral therapy (ART) among people living with HIV (PLHIV). We searched the PubMed, EMBASE and Cochrane CENTRAL databases for studies that reported an association between depression and adherence to ART as a primary or secondary outcome. We used a random-effect model to pool the risk estimates from the individual studies. The odds ratio (OR) with their 95 % CIs were used as summary estimates. Of 2861 citations, 111 studies that recruited 42,366 PLHIV met our inclusion criteria. When reported, the rate of PLHIV with depressive symptoms ranged from 12.8 to 78 % and the proportion of PLHIV who achieved good adherence (≥80 %) ranged from 20 to 98 %. There were no significant differences in rate of depressive symptoms in PLHIV by country income group; however, the proportion of PLHIV who achieved good adherence was significantly higher in lower-income countries (as defined in the 2012 World Bank Country Income Groups) (pooled rate = 86 %) compared to higher-income countries (pooled rate = 67.5 %; p < .05). We found that the likelihood of achieving good ART adherence was 42 % lower among those with depressive symptoms compared to those without (pooled OR = 0.58, 95 % CI 0.55 to 0.62). The relationship between depressive symptoms and adherence to ART was consistent across the country’s income group, study design and adherence rates. We found that the magnitude of the association significantly decreases with more recent publications and increasing study sample size. The higher the prevalence of depressive symptoms of PLHIV recruited in the studies, the lower the likelihood of achieving good adherence to ART. In conclusion, the likelihood of achieving good adherence was lower among those with depressive symptoms compared to those without