Taking life-long treatment with a high adherence demand may also have emotional effects. Some compounds exacerbate mental health symptoms [7], while others may be associated with side effects (e.g. lipodystrophy) with mental health sequelae [8]. Poor mental health or heavy mental health burden is associated with reduced adherence, which in turn is associated with poorer outcome [6-9]. Therefore, incorporating assessment of mental health

into the routine follow-up of patients at all stages is important but is particularly critical at first presentation in order to establish a baseline. It is also important prior to commencement of ART (see 6.2 Monitoring of ART-naïve patients) and in those individuals with suboptimal adherence and/or virological failure, or signs of mental health symptoms (such Epigenetic inhibitor order as depressed mood, heightened anxiety, relationship concerns, memory or functioning concerns). Cognitive symptoms have been noted from the early days of the

epidemic, ranging from mild cognitive symptoms to more severe memory loss, executive functioning difficulties and cognitive impairment [10]. The advent of treatment has clearly reduced the prevalence of severe cognitive disorders [11, 12], while milder forms have continued in a proportion of patients. There is currently much debate about the prevalence, risk factors for, and prognosis of, mild-to-moderate cognitive impairment in persons taking effective ART Selleck CHIR-99021 (full virological suppression). Joint psychological support standards are currently being consulted on and it is anticipated that these will make recommendations about screening [13], although there is not yet consensus about easy-to-administer and effective measurements. The finalized standards will be available late in 2011. Standardized monitoring of psychological wellbeing at baseline, at annual follow-up and at change points (such as treatment initiation and treatment switching) (III). Having good referral mechanisms to psychological services in place and clear criteria for referral (see BHIVA guidelines on psychological support

[13]) (IV). Inclusion of psychological GPX6 consideration in relation to fertility, drug use, treatment change, side effects, adherence, relationships and doctor–patient interaction (IV). There is no high-grade evidence for what is the optimal frequency at which to measure CD4 T cells in well-resourced health environments. We have considered three different scenarios: initial HIV diagnosis; monitoring ART-naïve patients; and CD4 T-cell counts in patients on ART. Recommendations for how often we should be measuring CD4 T-cell counts are mainly based on expert opinion [1-3]. For ART-naïve patients, we used data from a cost-effectiveness analysis using an HIV simulation model incorporating CD4 T-cell count and plasma HIV-1 RNA load as predictors of disease progression [4].