Group Therapy Can Improve Viral Load in HIV

Researchers were not able to analyze whether all health care visits were HIV or symptom related, an important caveat of the study. Another potential limitation was the difference in atmosphere between HIV-positive and HIV-negative group sessions.

“HIV-positive groups talked more about concerns around their own mortality, but nonetheless it is important to note the consistency in findings across multiple domains, especially the physical domains,” Dr. Goodkin said.

“That suggests that if you improve mood state, you will improve cortisol, and you will improve immune function, which relates to improvements in viral load,” he said.

The virology effect of the behavioral intervention was statistically significant, and Dr. Goodkin suggested that “it may never be clinically significant, but we need to look at the latter effect on viral load seen in a subgroup over the long term in larger study groups.”