Examining incidence of diabetes in people with HIV: tracking the shift in traditional and HIV-related risk factors

Abstract

Background and objective: The risk factors of diabetes mellitus (DM) in people with HIV (PWH) may be dynamic in a life course manner. This study aimed to describe incidence of DM and investigate the trajectory of changes in risk factor associated with DM incidence over around 15 years among a statewide cohort of PWH in South Carolina (SC). Design: This is a population-based cohort study. Methods: Data were retrieved from the integrated statewide electronic health records between 2006 and 2020 in SC. Separate subgroup analysis was conducted according to the patients’ different follow up duration (i.e., 5, 10, and 15 years) to observe the evolving risk factors of DM development, using multivariable logistic regressions. Results: The DM incidence among a total of 9115 PWH was 8.9 per 1000 person-years. In the overall model, being >60 years old, hypertension, and obesity were positively associated with DM while alcohol consumption, years of HIV diagnosis and high percentage days of viral suppression were negatively associated with the outcome. In the subgroup analyses, similar risk factors were observed. The odds of DM increased in a graded fashion with age. Hypertension was positively associated with DM in all groups and retention to care was negatively associated with the outcome in groups 1 and 3. Conclusion: This large-scale population-based study has revealed a relatively lower incidence of DM among PWH than some other US States. The evolving risk factors over time underline the need for maintaining retention to care to prevent the occurrence of DM.