Depressive Symptoms and Left Ventricular Diastolic Dysfunction Among Men and Women with HIV

The prevalence of depressive symptoms and major depressive disorder is high among adults living with HIV. Depressive symptoms are associated with increased cardiovascular disease risk. This study examined the association between depressive symptoms and echocardiographic indices of left ventricular diastolic dysfunction (LVDD) among men and women living with and without HIV.

Cross-sectional analysis included individuals in the Multicenter AIDS Cohort Study (MACS) and Women's Interagency HIV Study (WIHS) who participated in transthoracic echocardiogram substudies and completed measures of depressive symptoms at the same visit as, or up to 6 months prior to, the transthoracic echocardiogram visit. Participants had helper T cells (CD4) >350 cells/mm³ and HIV RNA viral load <499 copies/mL. The presence of LVDD was defined according to the Characterizing Heart Function on Antiretroviral Therapy (CHART) criteria. Secondary outcomes were continuous values of each component of the CHART criteria: left ventricular ejection fraction >50%, septal e' velocity, lateral e' velocity, left atrial volume index, left ventricular mass index, and relative wall thickness. Logistic and linear regression were used to adjust for sociodemographic, behavioural, cardiometabolic, and HIV-related factors.

Among 874 men (51% with HIV) and 1,191 women (76% with HIV), in whom the overall prevalence of LVDD was 22.5% and depressive symptoms 30.8%, depressive symptoms were not significantly associated with LVDD. The associations between individual LVDD components and depression were in the small to medium range, though generally not significant.

Findings warrant further research regarding the association between LVDD and depressive symptoms in the era of combination antiretroviral therapy.