Posttraumatic stress disorder and its associations with antiretroviral therapy among veterans with HIV

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) may affect antiretroviral therapy (ART) response and clinical outcomes for veterans with HIV (VWH) receiving care in the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). Objectives are to estimate the associations between PTSD and ART nonadherence, modifications, and failure; measure effect modification by number of deployments and combat exposure; and examine how these associations vary over time.

In this prospective cohort study of all VWH on ART who deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan and receive care in the VA ( n  = 3206), patients entered at ART initiation and were censored in December 2022, totaling 22 261 person-years of follow-up.

Marginal structural log-binomial and Poisson models were fitted with a time-dependent exposure, adjusted for time-independent and time-dependent confounding and informative censoring, to estimate the associations between PTSD and ART nonadherence, modifications, and failure. Marginal structural shared frailty models were fitted to examine time-varying associations.

PTSD increased the risk [adjusted risk ratio, 95% confidence interval (CI)] of ART nonadherence by 6% (1.06 [1.00, 1.13]) and the rate (adjusted incidence rate ratio, 95% CI) of ART modifications by 38% (1.38 [1.19, 1.58]). Multiple deployments amplified the association with ART nonadherence by 14%; combat exposure did not modify any association examined. The association with ART modifications increased during the first decade post-PTSD-diagnosis but subsequently stabilized.

PTSD increased ART nonadherence and ART modifications. Providers should screen for PTSD so that it can help guide medical decisions and treatment; particular attention should be paid to Veterans with multiple combat deployments.