title: Pain and physical and psychological symptoms in ambulatory HIV patients in the current treatment era.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  HIV infection has become a manageable chronic disease. There are few studies of pain and symptoms in the current treatment era.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  Our primary objective was to determine the prevalence of and risk factors for pain and physical and psychological symptoms in a population of ambulatory HIV patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  We performed a cross-sectional study using the Brief Pain Inventory and the Memorial Symptom Assessment Scale-Short Form (MSAS).
  
  
  RESULTS
  We evaluated 156 individuals with a median age of 47.5 years (range 21-71), median time since HIV diagnosis of 11 years (range <1 to 25), and median CD4+ cell count of 502 cells/mm(3) (interquartile range [IQR] 308-683). Most (125, 80.6%) of the patients had an undetectable viral load. Seventy-six (48.7%) patients reported pain, of whom 39 (51.3%) had moderate to severe pain, and 43 (57.3%) had pain that caused moderate to severe interference with their lives. The median number of symptoms was eight (IQR 5-14.5) of 32 queried. In multivariable analyses, patients with psychiatric illness were 39.8% more likely to have pain (P<0.001). Psychiatric illness was associated with 0.7 and 1.2 point higher MSAS subscale scores, and IV drug use was associated with 0.4 and 0.5 higher subscale scores (out of four).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Pain and other physical and psychological symptoms were common among ambulatory HIV patients. Pain and symptoms were strongly associated with psychiatric illness and IV drug use. Future investigation should evaluate interventions that include psychiatric and substance abuse components for HIV patients with pain.
authors: Division of Infectious Diseases, Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and Penn-Presbyterian Medical Center, Philadelphia, PA, USA. jessicasarahmerlin@gmail.com
authors: Jessica S
authors: JS
authors: Merlin
authors: Liyi
authors: L
authors: Cen
authors: Amy
authors: A
authors: Praestgaard
authors: Michelle
authors: M
authors: Turner
authors: Aura
authors: A
authors: Obando
authors: Craig
authors: C
authors: Alpert
authors: Sophie
authors: S
authors: Woolston
authors: David
authors: D
authors: Casarett
authors: Jay
authors: J
authors: Kostman
authors: Robert
authors: R
authors: Gross
authors: Ian
authors: I
authors: Frank
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000553:Ambulatory Care; D023241:Antiretroviral Therapy, Highly Active; D018791:CD4 Lymphocyte Count; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000150:complications* / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000150:complications / Q000523:psychology; D008875:Middle Aged; D010146:Pain / Q000150:complications* / Q000453:epidemiology; D010147:Pain Measurement; D012307:Risk Factors; D019562:Viral Load; D055815:Young Adult