Association between depressive symptoms and tuberculosis diagnosis stage in older adults: a 4-year longitudinal cohort study in rural South Africa

A recent TB diagnosis is strongly associated with depressive symptoms at baseline, and with the persistence of severe depressive symptoms 4 years later. These results were robust to a number of sensitivity tests and do not seem to be driven by differences in healthcare utilisation. Integrating mental health support into TB care programmes at all phases of diagnosis and treatment, particularly in low-resource settings, may have significant benefits.