Non-AIDS-related Comorbidities among People Living with HIV Aged 50 Years and Older: A Cross-sectional Study at Hua Hin Hospital, 2018-2019

Abstract

With the success of combination antiretroviral therapy (cART), HIV-infected individuals are living longer and, as a consequence, are experiencing an increasing number of and more varied age-related comorbidities. Nevertheless, there are limited data regarding the profile of these chronic comorbidities among aging people living with HIV in Thailand. We therefore aimed to determine the prevalence and risk factors of non-AIDS related comorbidities in this population. A cross-sectional study was conducted utilizing an electronic medical record database from the HIV clinic at Hua Hin Hospital. We assessed the prevalence of chronic comorbidities among HIV patients aged at least 50 years. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was performed to identify factors associated with multimorbidity. Among 307 HIV patients, nearly half (49.2%) had at least 1 comorbidity and multimorbidity was present in 22.5% of the patients. The most common comorbidities were dyslipidemia (33.9%), hypertension (21.5%) and diabetes (8.1%). Age (OR 1.11, 95% CI 1.06-1.18), duration of HIV infection (OR 1.11, 95% CI 1.04-1.19), body mass index (OR 1.10, 95% CI 1.02-1.19) and stavudine-containing regimens (OR 2.63, 95% CI 1.46-5.90) were associated with multimorbidity. The finding underscores a significant burden of non-AIDS-related comorbidities in aging HIV patients. Given the complexity of clinical care in this population, a comprehensive multidisciplinary approach is of paramount importance to optimize overall health outcomes.

Keywords: HIV, PLHIV, comorbidity, elderly, Thailand