ArticlePLOS global public health2024
Effect of a brief psychological intervention for common mental disorders on HIV viral suppression: A non-randomised controlled study of the Friendship Bench in Zimbabwe.
Article in PLOS global public health, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers.
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Who cites it
7 citing papers in PubMed, 7 citations in OpenAlex.
- The African youth in mind (Y-MIND) brief psychological intervention for depression among school-going adolescents in Ghana: a development case series.BMC psychiatry · 2026Trial
- Combining HIV prevention Options with Mental health service delivery for Adolescent girls and young women (CHOMA): results of a pilot hybrid effectiveness-implementation randomized trial in South Africa.Journal of the International AIDS Society · 2025Trial
- A Booklet Self-Help Intervention for People Living with HIV and Depressive Symptoms in Botswana: A Randomized Controlled Trial.AIDS and behavior · 2025Trial
- The Mental Health of Adults Living with HIV in Sub-Saharan Africa: Interventions along the HIV Care Continuum - A Systematic Review.AIDS and behavior · 2026Review
- Social relationships, mental health, and stigma: A qualitative study of social networks and HIV disclosure in Western Kenya.PLOS global public health · 2026Article
- Perspectives on enhancing peer support services for mothers living with HIV in Kenya: A qualitative assessment of Mentor Mothers and the mothers they serve.PLOS global public health · 2026Article
- Rebuilding global health after the demise of USAID.Nature medicine · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
7 authors at 3 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundFor people living with co-morbid HIV and common mental disorders (CMD), it is not known whether a brief psychological intervention for CMD can improve HIV viral suppression.
methodsWe conducted a prospective cohort study in eight primary care clinics in Harare, Zimbabwe, enrolling adults with co-morbid HIV and CMD. Six clinics provided the Friendship Bench (FB), a brief psychological intervention for CMD based on problem-solving therapy, delivered by lay counsellors. Two clinics provided enhanced usual care (EUC). The primary outcome was viral non-suppression after six months (viral load ≥400 copies/mL). Data were analysed using a difference-in-difference approach with linear regression of cluster-level proportions, adjusted for baseline viral non-suppression (aDiD). The secondary outcome was presence of CMD measured by the Shona Symptom Questionnaire.
resultsIn FB clinics, 407/500 (81.4%) participants had viral load results at baseline and endline: 58 (14.3%) had viral non-suppression at baseline and 41 (10.1%) at endline. In EUC clinics, 172/200 (86.0%) had viral load results at baseline and endline: 22 (12.8%) were non-suppressed at baseline and 26 (15.1%) at endline (aDiD = -7.3%; 95%CI 14.7% to -0.01%; p = 0.05). Of the 499 participants virally suppressed at baseline, the FB group had lower prevalence of non-suppression at endline compared to the EUC group (2.9% vs 9.3%; p = 0.002). There was no evidence of a difference in endline viral non-suppression by group among the 80 participants with non-suppression at baseline (53.5% vs 54.6%; p = 0.93). The FB group was less likely to screen positive for CMD at endline than the EUC group (aDiD = -21.6%; 95%CI -36.5% to -6.7%; p = 0.008).
conclusionPeople living with co-morbid HIV and CMD may benefit from receiving a low-cost mental health intervention to enhance viral suppression, especially if they are already virally suppressed. Research is needed to understand if additional adherence counselling could further improve viral suppression.
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Registered trials
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