HIV infection and risk for incident pulmonary diseases in the combination antiretroviral therapy era.
BACKGROUND
In aging HIV-infected populations comorbid diseases are important determinants of morbidity and mortality. Pulmonary diseases have not been systematically assessed in the combination antiretroviral therapy (ART) era.


OBJECTIVE
To determine the incidence of pulmonary diseases in HIV-infected persons compared with HIV-uninfected persons.


METHODS
We analyzed data from the Veterans Aging Cohort Study Virtual Cohort, consisting of 33,420 HIV-infected veterans and 66,840 age, sex, race and ethnicity, and site-matched HIV-uninfected veterans. Using Poisson regression, incidence rates and adjusted incidence rate ratios were calculated to determine the association of HIV with pulmonary disease. The Virtual Cohort was merged with the 1999 Veterans Large Health Survey to adjust for self-reported smoking in a nested sample (14%).


RESULTS
Incident chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, lung cancer, pulmonary hypertension, and pulmonary fibrosis, as well as pulmonary infections, were significantly more likely among HIV-infected patients compared with uninfected patients in adjusted analyses, although rates of asthma did not differ by HIV status. Bacterial pneumonia and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease were the two most common incident pulmonary diseases, whereas opportunistic pneumonias were less common. Absolute rates of most pulmonary diseases increased with age, although the relative differences between those with and without HIV infection were greatest in younger persons. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and asthma, as well as pulmonary infections, were less likely in those with lower HIV RNA levels and use of ART at baseline.


CONCLUSIONS
Pulmonary diseases among HIV-infected patients receiving care within the Veterans Affairs Healthcare System in the combination ART era reflect a substantial burden of non-AIDS-defining and chronic conditions, many of which are associated with aging.
Crothers
Kristina
K
Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Washington School of Medicine, Harborview Medical Center, Seattle, WA 98104, USA. crothk@uw.edu
Huang
Laurence
L
Goulet
Joseph L
JL
Goetz
Matthew Bidwell
MB
Brown
Sheldon T
ST
Rodriguez-Barradas
Maria C
MC
Oursler
Krisann K
KK
Rimland
David
D
Gibert
Cynthia L
CL
Butt
Adeel A
AA
Justice
Amy C
AC
D000328:Adult; D023241:Antiretroviral Therapy, Highly Active; D001249:Asthma / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000150:complications* / Q000188:drug therapy; D006801:Humans; D006976:Hypertension, Pulmonary / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology; D015994:Incidence; D008171:Lung Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology*; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016012:Poisson Distribution; D029424:Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology; D011658:Pulmonary Fibrosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012307:Risk Factors; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology