Aging with HIV: Increased Risk of HIV Comorbidities in Older Adults

Abstract

With improved access to antiretroviral treatment (ART), adults with HIV live longer to reach older age. The number of older adults living with HIV is increasing steadily, giving rise to a new population of interest in HIV research and for invigorated considerations in health service delivery and policy. We analysed the profile of comorbidities in older people (50 years and older) living with HIV in South Africa. We conducted a secondary analysis of all individuals over 15 years who tested HIV positive in the Fifth South African National HIV Prevalence, Incidence, Behaviour and Communication Survey, 2017. We conducted multivariate logistic regression to determine the factors associated with having HIV comorbidity using Stata 15.0 software. We entered 3755 people living with HIV into the analysis, of whom 18.3% (n = 688) were 50 years or older. Older adults had four times greater odds (OR = 4.7 (3.1–7.0)) of having an HIV comorbidity compared to younger adults. Being female (OR = 1.6 (1.1–2.4)) and living in an urban area (OR = 2.6 (1.8–3.7)) increased the odds of HIV comorbidity. Older adults with HIV require comprehensive health care to deal with multimorbidity, to maximise the benefits gained by advances in HIV therapies.