Publication Abstract Display
Type: Published Manuscript
Title: Comorbidities in persons affected with HIV: Increased burden with older age and negative effects on health-related quality of life.
Authors: Rodriguez-Penny, A, Iudicello JE, Riggs PK, Doyle KL, Ellis RJ, Letendre, SL, Grant I, Woods SP, and the HNRP Group
Year: 2013
Publication: AIDS Patient Care and STDs
Volume: 27 Issue: Pages: 5-16
Abstract:Peer Review Only; Not for Distribution 2 Abstract This study sought to determine the synergistic effects of age and HIV infection on medical comorbidity burden, along with its clinical correlates and impact on healthrelated quality of life (HRQoL) across the lifespan in HIV. Participants included 262 individuals across four groups stratified by age (≤ 40 and ≥ 50 years) and HIV serostatus. Medical comorbidity burden was assessed using a modified version of the Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI). Multiple regression accounting for potentially confounding demographic, psychiatric, and medical factors revealed an interaction between age and HIV infection on the CCI, with the highest medical comorbidity burden in the older HIV+ cohort. Nearly half of the older HIV+ group had at least one major medical comorbidity, with the most prevalent being diabetes (17.8%), syndromic neurocognitive impairment (15.4%), and malignancy (12.2%). Affective distress and detectable plasma viral load were significantly associated with the CCI in the younger and older HIV-infected groups, respectively. Greater comorbidity burden was uniquely associated with lower physical HRQoL across the lifespan. These findings highlight the prevalence and clinical impact of non-HIV-associated comorbidities in older HIV-infected adults and underscore the importance of early detection and treatment efforts that might enhance HIV disease outcomes.

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