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Background Evidence on the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and CVD risk factors in people with human immunodeficiency virus (PWH) is limited. We aimed to identify the risk of composite CVD, individual CVD events, and common risk factors. Methods This was a nationwide, population-based, cohort study comparing adult (≥18 years old) PWH with people without human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) matched on age, sex, ethnicity, and location. The primary outcome was composite CVD comprising stroke, myocardial infarction, peripheral vascular disease, ischemic heart disease, and heart failure. The secondary outcomes were individual CVD events, hypertension, diabetes, chronic kidney disease (CKD), and all-cause mortality. Cox proportional hazard regression models were used to examine the risk of each outcome. Results We identified 9233 PWH and matched them with 35 721 HIV-negative individuals. An increased risk was found for composite CVD (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR], 1.50; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.28–1.77), stroke (aHR, 1.42; 95% CI, 1.08–1.86), ischemic heart disease (aHR, 1.55; 95% CI, 1.24–1.94), hypertension (aHR, 1.37; 95% CI, 1.23–1.53), type 2 diabetes (aHR, 1.28; 95% CI, 1.09–1.50), CKD (aHR, 2.42; 95% CI, 1.98–2.94), and all-cause mortality (aHR, 2.84; 95% CI, 2.48–3.25). Conclusions PWH have a heightened risk for CVD and common CVD risk factors, reinforcing the importance for regular screening for such conditions.

Background We describe older (> 50 years) HIV-infected adults after ART initiation, evaluating immunological recovery by age category, considering individual trajectories based on the pre-treatment CD4. We also describe mortality on ART and its risk factors by age category including the contribution of poor immunological recovery at a large urban clinic in Kampala, Uganda. Methods We performed a cohort analysis of adult (>18 years) HIV-infected patients who initiated ART between January 1, 2004 and January 3, 2012. Immunological response was evaluated using mixed-effects linear regression. We described mortality using Kaplan Meier survival methods analyzing for risk factors of mortality using multivariate Weibull survival regression stratified by age category. Results Among 9,806 individuals who initiated ART, mean age was 37 years (S.D 8.8), average follow-up 5.7 years (S.D 1.7) and median baseline CD4 was 115 cells/mm3 (IQR; 42-184). Adults <50 years had on average a higher CD4 increase of 45 cells/mm3 (95% CI; 17, 72, p=0.001) compared to counterparts aged ≥ 60 years. Mortality was highest among older adults compared to younger counterparts. Only CD4 count <100 cells/mm3 after 1 year on ART and a CD4 count less than baseline were associated with a statistically significant higher rate of death among older adults. Conclusion Older adults had a slower immunological response which was associated with mortality, but this mortality was not typically associated with opportunistic infections. Future steps would require more evaluation of possible causes of death among these older individuals if survival on ART is to be further improved.