Patient-Reported Noninfectious Comorbidities in Chinese HIV-Infected Patients: The Gaps Among Self-Awareness, Diagnosis, and Prevalence

Abstract

Background: This study was performed to investigate the gaps among patient-reported data, physician-reported data, and laboratory test data in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected patients and to detect potential risk factors for the awareness gap. Methods: We included patients from 38 hospitals in China. Patient-reported data, physician-reported data, and laboratory test data on four typical noninfectious comorbidities (NICMs) (osteoporosis, kidney disease, neuropsychiatric comorbidities, and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD)) were collected. We compared differences in and consistency of these types of data and investigated the associations between baseline characteristics and the awareness gap between patients and physicians. Results: This study included 1390 patients. The difference between the diagnosis rate and laboratory test positivity rate for all NICMs was significant. Patient-reported data on the three NICMs other than kidney disease were significantly different from the diagnosis rates. The agreement between patients and physicians for all NICMs was poor. The region, infection stage, hospital level, sex, and age influenced the awareness gap between patients and physicians. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that NICMs in HIV-infected patients in China are underestimated; gaps among patient awareness of disease exist, the clinical diagnosis rate, and the actual prevalence; patient characteristics influence the awareness gap between patients and physicians.