369. Association Between Depression and HIV Treatment Outcomes in a US Military Population with HIV Infection

BACKGROUND: Depression is common among HIV-infected individuals and may contribute to suboptimal adherence to antiretroviral therapy (ART) and reduced rates of viral load (VL) suppression. We evaluated longitudinal HIV treatment outcomes in US Military HIV Natural History Study (NHS) participants with or without a diagnosis depression. METHODS: Male NHS participants with available ICD-9 data for mental health diagnoses and self-reported adherence (SRA) were included (n = 549). Groups were defined as having a history of depression (n = 188, 34.2%), classified as major depressive disorder and/or anxiety disorder, or no history of depression (n = 361, 65.8%). Delay in ART initiation was defined as the time from HIV diagnosis to ART start greater than the group mean (4.91 ± 4.69 years). SRA was defined as taking ≥95% of ART doses and continuous ART was defined as longitudinal ART use with gaps < 30 days. Continuous VL suppression was defined as maintaining VLs < 200 c/mL on ART. Logistic regression analysis was performed comparing variables for those with and without a coded diagnosis of depression. RESULTS: Participants had a mean age of 33 (±8.36) years at HIV diagnosis, and similar proportions were Caucasian (44.3%) or African American (40.8%). At ART initiation, the mean CD4 count was 370 (±154 cells/μL) and 362 (±163 cells/μL) for those with and without a history of depression, respectively. Overall, older participants at HIV diagnosis had greater odds of having high SRA (OR 1.07, 95% CI 1.03–1.11), and compared with Caucasians, African Americans had lower odds of having high SRA (OR 0.43, 95% CI 0.25–0.75; table). Participants with a history of depression had greater odds of experiencing delayed ART initiation (OR 2.12, 95% CI 1.11–4.05). However, they also had greater odds of remaining on continuous ART (OR 1.38, 95% CI 0.95–2.02) during follow-up compared with those without a history of depression. CONCLUSION: Although HIV-infected individuals with depression were more likely to experience delays in ART initiation, there were no observed differences in SRA or VL suppression. Continued efforts to identify and aggressively manage mental health disorders are important to success along the HIV care continuum. [Image: see text] DISCLOSURES: All authors: No reported disclosures.