Filho et al identified risk factors for major depression in an elderly HIV-positive patient living in Brazil. A patient with these risk factors should be screened carefully for depression. The authors are from Universidade Federal do Estado do Rio de Janeiro.
Patient selection: HIV-positive adult age >= 60 years
Risk factors for major depression:
(1) female gender (OR 10.7)
(2) current smoker (OR 12.9)
A low absolute CD4 count had a p value of 0.015 but odds ratio of 1 (mean absolute CD4 value for depressed patients 344 +/- 146, giving a cutoff around 500 per µL). One view is that a depressed patient might be poorly compliant with medication. Another is that more advanced disease makes a patient depressed.
Other factors (substance abuse, comorbid illnesses, social or economic problems) were not included in the univariate analysis.
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