Results
depression, deaths, death
The trial enrolled 502 index and 806 partner participants. Overall, 13% (66/502) of indexes and 3% (19/806) of partners died during follow-up (crude mortality rates 10.4 [95% CI 8.1–13.3] and 2.1 [1.3–3.3], respectively). These mortality rates were for indexes nearly 30 times and for partners 6 times higher than expected in a population of the same country, age, and gender (standardized mortality ratios 30.7 [23.7–39.0] and 5.8 [3.5–9.1], respectively). HIV-related causes, including a recent CD4 < 200 cells/μL, accounted for 50% of deaths among indexes. Among partners, medical conditions were the most common cause of death (47%). In the multivariable Cox model, the mortality among indexes was associated with sex (male versus female aHR = 4.2 [1.5–17.9]), CD4 count (≥ 200 versus < 200 cells/μL aHR = 0.3 [0.2–0.5]), depression (moderate-to-severe versus no/mild aHR = 2.6 [1.2–5.0]) and study arm (intervention versus control aHR = 0.4 [0.2–0.9]). Among partners, the study arm of the index remained the only significant predictor (intervention versus control aHR = 0.2 [0.0–0.9]) while controlling for the effect of MAT (never versus ever receiving MAT aHR = 2.4 [0.9–7.4]).