Antidepressants may do more than improve the mental health of people with both HIV and depression. New study findings suggest the treatment may also bolster patients’ compliance with their HIV medications.

In a study of HIV-positive people seen at Denver public health clinics, researchers found that among the patients with depression, those who were on antidepressants were more likely to be compliant with their antiretroviral HIV drugs.

“Attention to diagnosis and treatment of depressive disorders in this population may improve antiretroviral adherence and ultimate survival,” the study authors write in the Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes.

“Depression screening should be a part of care for all patients,” study co-author Dr. Arthur J. Davidson of the Denver Public Health Department told AMN Health.

“Many patients may present with physical symptoms that are directly related to depression,” he added.

For their study, Davidson and his colleagues looked at 1,713 HIV-positive patients age 12 and older who were treated between 1997 and 2001. The researchers used data from patients’ medical and pharmacy records to gauge their compliance with prescriptions for antidepressants and antiretroviral medications.

Overall, 57 percent of the patients were diagnosed with depression, about half of whom had picked up prescriptions for antidepressants and refilled them at least twice.

Davidson’s team found that patients who adhered to their antidepressant prescriptions were also more likely to be compliant with their HIV regimen; more than two-thirds of these patients were adherent to their HIV medications, versus only 31 percent of those who did not comply with their antidepressant therapy.

The fact that patients who adhered to their depression medications also tended to stick with their HIV regimens may reflect certain individuals’ natural tendency to closely follow their prescribed care, the researchers note.

However, there is reason to believe that the benefit came from addressing patients’ depression, according to Davidson.

It’s known, he noted, that treating depressed patients - HIV-positive or not - can improve their emotional and physical health, as well as how they view their quality of life.

More research, according to Davidson and his colleagues, is now needed to confirm whether improvements in depression boost patients’ compliance with their HIV drugs.

SOURCE: Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes, April 1 2005.