2014 Articles

Depression: A Silent Driver Of The Global Tuberculosis Epidemic

Sweetland, Annika; Oquendo, Maria; Wickramaratne, Priya; Weissman, Myrna M.; Wainberg, Milton

Depression is a common comorbid condition for patients with tuberculosis (TB), and is associated with higher morbidity and mortality, antibiotic drug resistance, and community transmission. Depressed individuals with TB are less likely to seek care promptly, if at all, and once in treatment are significantly less likely to take medications consistently and/or completely. These treatment irregularities can lead to drug resistance, morbidity and mortality. Therefore, depression may be an unrecognized driver of the TB and multidrug resistant TB (MDR-TB) epidemics.