title: Age, gender, and other predictors of the wasting syndrome among HIV-1-infected injecting drug users.
abstract: We conducted a study to identify predictors of the wasting syndrome among human immunodeficiency virus 1 (HIV-1)-seropositive injecting drug users. We enrolled 113 cases (defined as an unexplained loss of > 10% baseline weight) and 226 controls (defined as < 5% weight loss or any weight gain) from a HIV-1-seropositive cohort of injecting drug users (N = 630) into a nested case-control study. Crude predictors of wasting included: older age [odds ratio (OR) for a 1-year difference = 1.06], female gender (OR = 1.66), more years spent injecting drugs (OR for 1-year difference = 1.05), presence of diarrhea (OR = 3.78), lower percentage of CD4 T-lymphocytes (OR for 10-unit difference = 0.73), and higher log beta 2-microglobulin concentration (OR for 1 log difference = 11.3). After adjusting for CD4 cell level, beta 2-microglobulin concentration, diarrhea, gender, length and frequency of drug use, age, the presence of thrush, and education, independent predictors of weight loss in HIV-seropositive injecting drug users were female gender (OR = 2.23) and increasing age (OR for 1-year difference = 1.06). Frequency and duration of drug use were not strongly associated with the odds of developing wasting syndrome in this HIV-1-seropositive cohort. These data indicate that HIV wasting syndrome in injecting drug users is distinct from complications of drug use.
authors.affiliation: Epidemiology, Demography, and Biometry Program, National Institute on Aging, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA.
authors.forename: J D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Sorkin
authors.forename: P A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Bolton
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Greenblatt
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Sithisarankul
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Vlahov
authors.forename: N M
authors.initials: NM
authors.lastname: Graham
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D018791:CD4 Lymphocyte Count; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D015497:HIV-1; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D016017:Odds Ratio; D012307:Risk Factors; D015819:Substance Abuse, Intravenous; D015431:Weight Loss