title: Frailty in people aging with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection.
abstract: The increasing life spans of people infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) reflect enormous treatment successes and present new challenges related to aging. Even with suppression of viral loads and immune reconstitution, HIV-positive individuals exhibit excess vulnerability to multiple health problems that are not AIDS-defining. With the accumulation of multiple health problems, it is likely that many people aging with treated HIV infection may be identified as frail. Studies of frailty in people with HIV are currently limited but suggest that frailty might be feasible and useful as an integrative marker of multisystem vulnerability, for organizing care and for comprehensively measuring the impact of illness and treatment on overall health status. This review explains how frailty has been conceptualized and measured in the general population, critically reviews emerging data on frailty in people with HIV infection, and explores how the concept of frailty might inform HIV research and care.
authors.affiliation: Geriatric Medicine Research.
authors.forename: Thomas D
authors.initials: TD
authors.lastname: Brothers
authors.affiliation: Departments of Community Health and Epidemiology and Medicine, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.
authors.forename: Susan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kirkland
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences for Adults and Children, Clinic of Infectious Diseases, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Italy.
authors.forename: Giovanni
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Guaraldi
authors.affiliation: Chronic Viral Illness Service, Division of Infectious Diseases and Division of Geriatrics, McGill University Hospital Center, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
authors.forename: Julian
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Falutz
authors.affiliation: Geriatric Medicine Research.
authors.forename: Olga
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Theou
authors.affiliation: Division of Infectious Diseases.
authors.forename: B Lynn
authors.initials: BL
authors.lastname: Johnston
authors.affiliation: Division of Geriatric Medicine, Dalhousie University Centre for Health Care of the Elderly, Capital District Health Authority, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.
authors.forename: Kenneth
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Rockwood
mesh_terms: D000375:Aging; D019380:Anti-HIV Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D023241:Antiretroviral Therapy, Highly Active; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D012307:Risk Factors
chemical_list: D019380:Anti-HIV Agents
keywords: HIV; aging; chronic infectious disease; chronic viral illness; frailty; geriatric assessment; risk assessment