Associations of depression and anxiety with cardiovascular risk among people living with HIV/AIDS in Korea

Abstract

OBJECTIVES: As HIV/AIDS is becoming a chronic disease, the risk of developing cardiovascular disease (CVD) among people living with HIV/AIDS is rising. Anxiety and depression, which are common among people living with HIV/AIDS, have been linked with CVD. This study investigated the risk of CVD in people living with HIV/AIDS and explored the effects of depression and anxiety on CVD risk.

METHODS: Data were collected for 457 people enrolled in the Korea Cohort HIV/AIDS study after 2010. Framingham risk scores were calculated to quantify the 10-year risk of developing CVD. Depression and anxiety variables were re-coded as a single combined variable. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was performed, adjusting for age, body mass index, low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, triglycerides (TG), duration of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) positivity after entry into the cohort, and depression/anxiety.

RESULTS: Participants with both depression and anxiety were 2.28 times more likely than those with neither depression nor anxiety to have moderate/high-risk CVD risk. The 10-year risk of developing CVD was affected by LDL cholesterol, TG, age, and duration of HIV infection. LDL cholesterol and TG levels change according to the duration of HIV infection, and metabolic disorders affect the risk of CVD. Thus, a longer duration of HIV infection is associated with a higher risk of developing CVD.

CONCLUSIONS: Screenings for depression and anxiety need to be provided regularly to assess the severity of those symptoms. To help decrease their risk of developing CVD, people living with HIV/AIDS should be offered behavioral modification interventions aimed at developing healthy lifestyle habits.