This article is more than 5 years old. Information may no longer be current.
Patients with HIV may have increased risk for diabetes
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts
Nationally representative estimates of the prevalence of diabetes in the United States showed that the condition was nearly 4% higher in adults with HIV than the general U.S. population, according to recent study findings. In addition, researchers found that patients with HIV were more likely to develop diabetes at a younger age and often in the absence of obesity compared with the general public.
In the United States, the life expectancy of patients with HIV is increasing due to advances in HIV treatment. Thus, chronic metabolic and cardiovascular diseases, including diabetes, are becoming more important causes of morbidity and mortality in this population, according to Alfonso C. Hernandez-Romieu, MD, MPH, of the department of epidemiology at Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, and colleagues. However, data on the prevalence of diabetes among HIV-infected adults are lacking, and there is controversy over whether patients with HIV have an increased risk for diabetes compared with the rest of the population.
To address this gap in knowledge, Hernandez-Romieu and colleagues analyzed data from the Medical Monitoring Project (MMP) and the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) to estimate the prevalence of diabetes among HIV-infected adults and compare it with that of the general adult population. The analysis included data from 2009 and 2010 on 8,610 participants involved in the MMP and 5,604 participants responding to the NHANES.
The researchers reported that the prevalence of diabetes was 10.3% (95% CI, 9.2%-11.5%) among HIV-infected adults, and was 3.8% (95% CI, 1.8%-5.8%) higher compared with the general population. A subgroup analysis of HIV-infected adults revealed that women (5%; 95% CI, 2.3%-7.7%), younger individuals aged 20 to 44 years (4.1%; 95% CI, 2.7%-5.5%) and nonobese adults (3.5%; 95% CI, 1.4%-5.6%) had an increased prevalence of diabetes vs. the public. Risk factors independently associated with diabetes among patients with HIV included increasing age (P < .0001), obesity (P < .0001), increasing time since HIV diagnosis (P < .0001) and mean CD4 count (P = .0007).
Hernandez-Romieu and colleagues concluded that their findings underscore the importance of following diabetes screening guidelines, which recommend that health care professionals obtain FBG and HbA1c prior to ART initiation.
“Although obesity is a risk factor for prevalent [diabetes] among HIV-infected adults, when compared with the general U.S. adult population, HIV-infected adults may have higher [diabetes] prevalence at younger ages and in the absence of obesity,” they wrote. “Given the large burden of [diabetes] among HIV-infected adults, additional research would help to determine whether [diabetes] screening guidelines should be modified to include HIV infection as a risk factor for [diabetes] and to identify optimal management strategies in this population.” – by Stephanie Viguers
Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts