Estimating the Effect of Depression on HIV Transmission Risk Behaviors Among People Who Inject Drugs in Vietnam: A Causal Approach

Among people who inject drugs in Vietnam—where depression is highly prevalent and HIV incidence remains elevated—the causal effect of depression on injection equipment sharing and sexual risk behaviors had not been estimated using modern causal inference methods.

Target RWE researchers and UNC/CDC collaborators applied marginal structural models and causal inference methods to longitudinal data from 455 PWID living with HIV in Vietnam to estimate the causal effect of depressive symptoms on risk behaviors over time.

Demonstrating that severe depression increases injection equipment sharing among PWID provides causal evidence for the HIV prevention value of depression treatment, informing integrated HIV/mental health intervention design in Southeast Asia.

Causal HIV transmission risk behavior evidence for depression intervention design in PWID populations, Integrated HIV/mental health intervention evidence for Southeast Asia prevention programs