Predictors of Comorbidity and Quality of Life Among HIV Positive and HIV Negative Older Persons in a Tertiary Health Facility in Lagos.

Abstract

Background: The burden of comorbid conditions may be increased among people living with Human Immunodeficiency Virus. Existing studies on comorbidity and Quality of Life (QoL) among people living with Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) focus on younger adults. In addition, studies on comorbidity and QoL among HIV-positive elderly persons are carried out without comparison with those who are HIV-negative. Hence, there is knowledge gap regarding comorbidity and QoL among elderly persons living with HIV (EPLHIV) compared with those who are HIV-negative. To compare comorbidity and QoL among EPLHIV with those who are HIV-negative. This study was carried out at adult antiretroviral clinic, General Out-patient (GOP) and Medical Out-patient (MOP) departments in Lagos University Teaching Hospital Lagos Nigeria.
METHODOLOGY:  This is a comparative cross-sectional analytical study.  A total of 243 elderly patients were recruited into this study. Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI) and WHO Quality of Life BREF tools were used. STATA version 13 was used for data analysis. 
Results: EPLHIV had a significantly higher mean CCI score than HIV-negative elderly persons (1.80±1.45 vs. 1.25±1.23; p=0.005) and a higher prevalence of comorbidity (74.07% vs. 60.49%; p=0.025). EPLHIV had lower scores in all QoL domains, but the difference was statistically significant only in the environmental domain (57.60±10.84 vs. 62.05±15.11; p=0.019); overall QoL did not differ significantly (p=0.512).
Conclusion: This study revealed that EPLHIV had a higher burden of comorbidity than HIV-negative elderly, while their overall QoL was similar, with a significantly lower score only in the environmental domain. There is a need for health promotion programs among EPLWHIV in order to reduce the risk of multimorbidity.