ObjectivesAs people living with HIV (PLWH) live longer, morbidity and mortality from non-AIDS comorbidities have emerged as major concerns. Our objective was to compare prevalence trends and age at diagnosis of nine chronic age-associated comorbidities between individuals living with and without HIV.Design and settingThis population-based cohort study used longitudinal cohort data from all diagnosed antiretroviral-treated PLWH and 1:4 age-sex-matched HIV-negative individuals in British Columbia, Canada.ParticipantsThe study included 8031 antiretroviral-treated PLWH and 32 124 HIV-negative controls (median age 40 years, 82% men). Eligible participants were ≥19 years old and followed for ≥1 year during 2000 to 2012.Primary and secondary outcome measuresThe presence of non-AIDS-defining cancers, diabetes, osteoarthritis, hypertension, Alzheimer’s and/or non-HIV-related dementia, cardiovascular, kidney, liver and lung diseases were identified from provincial administrative databases. Beta regression assessed annual age-sex-standardised prevalence trends and Kruskal-Wallis tests compared the age at diagnosis of comorbidities stratified by rate of healthcare encounters.ResultsAcross study period, the prevalence of all chronic age-associated comorbidities, except hypertension, were higher among PLWH compared with their community-based HIV-negative counterparts; as much as 10 times higher for liver diseases (25.3% vs 2.1%, p value<0.0001). On stratification by healthcare encounter rates, PLWH experienced most chronic age-associated significantly earlier than HIV-negative controls, as early as 21 years earlier for Alzheimer’s and/or dementia.ConclusionsPLWH experienced higher prevalence and earlier age at diagnosis of non-AIDS comorbidities than their HIV-negative controls. These results stress the need for optimised screening for comorbidities at earlier ages among PLWH, and a comprehensive HIV care model that integrates prevention and treatment of chronic age-associated conditions. Additionally, the robust methodology developed in this study, which addresses concerns on the use of administrative health data to measure prevalence and incidence, is reproducible to other settings.

BackgroundLate HIV diagnosis is associated with increased AIDS-related morbidity and mortality as well as an increased risk of HIV transmission. In this study, we quantified and characterized missed opportunities for earlier HIV diagnosis in British Columbia (BC), Canada.DesignRetrospective cohort.MethodsA missed opportunity was defined as a healthcare encounter due to a clinical manifestation which may be caused by HIV infection, or is frequently present among those with HIV infection, but no HIV diagnosis followed within 30 days. We developed an algorithm to identify missed opportunities within one, three, and five years prior to diagnosis. The algorithm was applied to the BC STOP HIV/AIDS population-based cohort. Eligible individuals were ≥18 years old, and diagnosed from 2001–2014. Multivariable logistic regression identified factors associated with missed opportunities.ResultsOf 2119 individuals, 7%, 12% and 14% had ≥1 missed opportunity during one, three and five years prior to HIV diagnosis, respectively. In all analyses, individuals aged ≥40 years, heterosexuals or people who ever injected drugs, and those residing in Northern health authority had increased odds of experiencing ≥1 missed opportunity. In the three and five-year analysis, individuals with a CD4 count <350 cells/mm3 were at higher odds of experiencing ≥1 missed opportunity. Prominent missed opportunities were related to recurrent pneumonia, herpes zoster/shingles among younger individuals, and anemia related to nutritional deficiencies or unspecified cause.ConclusionsBased on our newly-developed algorithm, this study demonstrated that HIV-diagnosed individuals in BC have experienced several missed opportunities for earlier diagnosis. Specific clinical indicator conditions and population sub-groups at increased risk of experiencing these missed opportunities were identified. Further work is required in order to validate the utility of this proposed algorithm by establishing the sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values corresponding to the incidence of the clinical indicator conditions among both HIV-diagnosed and HIV-negative populations.

Background To assess the possible impact of antiretroviral therapy improvements, aging, and comorbidities, we examined trends in all-cause and cause-specific hospitalization rates among persons with HIV (PWH) from 2005 to 2015. Methods In six clinical cohorts, we followed PWH in care (≥1 outpatient CD4 count or HIV viral load [VL] every 12 months) and categorized ICD codes of primary discharge diagnoses using modified Clinical Classifications Software. Poisson regression estimated hospitalization rate ratios for calendar time trends, adjusted for demographics, HIV risk factor, and annually-updated age, CD4, and VL. Results Among 28 057 patients (125 724 person-years), from 2005 to 2015, the median CD4 increased from 389 to 580 cells/µL and virologic suppression from 55% to 85% of patients. Unadjusted all-cause hospitalization rates decreased from 22.3 per 100 person-years in 2005 (95% CI 20.6-24.1) to 13.0 in 2015 (12.2-14.0). Unadjusted rates decreased for almost all diagnostic categories. Adjusted rates decreased for all-cause, cardiovascular, and AIDS-defining conditions, increased for non-AIDS-defining infection, and were stable for most other categories. Conclusions Among PWH with increasing CD4 counts and viral suppression, unadjusted hospitalization rates decreased for all-cause and most cause-specific hospitalizations, despite the potential effects of aging, comorbidities, and cumulative exposure to HIV and antiretrovirals.