Frailty status and influencing factors in people living with human immunodeficiency virus infection/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome

Abstract:

Objective To investigate the frailty status and influencing factors in people living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS)(PLWHA). Methods PLWHA aged ≥18 years in a hospital in Changsha City from June to August 2019 were selected as the study subjects.The basic condition and frailty of the subjects were evaluated by self-designed questionnaire and Tilburg frailty indicator, respectively. Results The incidence of frailty in PLWHA was 26.4%, logistic regression analysis showed that patients with infection years >5 years had a 2.33 times higher risk of frailty compared with patients with infection years ≤5 years (95%CI: 1.24-4.37, P=0.009).The risk of frailty in patients with a highest HIV load of ≥ 100 000 copies/mL was 1.40 times higher than in patients with a highest HIV load of < 100 000 copies/mL (95%CI: 1.05-1.85, P=0.022).The risk of frailty in patients with CD4⁺T lymphocyte count < 200 mm³ was 3.60 times higher than that in patients with CD4⁺T lymphocyte count ≥200 mm³(95%CI: 1.96-6.62, P < 0.001). Conclusion PLWHA with longer duration of HIV infection, lower CD4⁺T lymphocyte count and higher HIV load are more prone to develop frailty.