Non-Communicable Diseases in Patients with Human Immunodeficiency Virus and Their Risk Factors.

Abstract

Background: The increasingly widespread use of antiretroviral drugs (ARV) to manage human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection has significantly reduced mortality. Accordingly, the number of patients with HIV with a life expectancy >50 years is increasing. With advanced age, the risk of non-communicable diseases (NCD) increases. According to a study in Uganda in 2017, the prevalence of at least one NCD in patients with HIV was 20.7%, with 11-30% of deaths due to NCDs, especially cardiovascular disease. This emphasizes that NCDs in patients with HIV are of clinical concern, as are the factors that increase the risk of these diseases. However, most studies on HIV and NCDs focus on African countries, while research in Asia is limited. Differences in genetics, lifestyle, and co-existing health burdens may influenced NCD prevalence and risk factors. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of and risk factors for NCDs in patients with HIV.

Materials and methods: This was an analytical cross-sectional study conducted at the outpatient clinic of the Ngoerah Hospital from June 8, 2023, to July 7, 2023. Descriptive and multivariate analyses were performed.

Results: In total, 1,644 patients with HIV were included in this study. The prevalence of NCDs was 1.9% for hypertension, 1.1% for diabetes mellitus, 0.7% for dyslipidemia, 1.0% for kidney disorders, 0.1% for stroke, 0.3% for cancer, 0.3% for cardiovascular disease, and 0.2% for autoimmune diseases. After conducting a multivariate test, we found that age >50 years increased the risk of comorbid NCDs by 7.886 times, while male sex increased the risk by 2.568 times, and an ARV regimen of two nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTIs) + non-NRTI (NNRTI) decreased the risk by 2.625 times.

Conclusion: Hypertension was the most common NCD in patients with HIV, followed by diabetes mellitus. Male patients and those aged >50 years were at a greater risk of developing NCDs, whereas a history of using the two NRTIs + NNRTI regimen was associated with a lower risk of NCDs.