Incidence of cardiometabolic diseases in people living with and without HIV in the UK: a population-based matched cohort study

Background

Evidence on the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and CVD risk factors in people with HIV (PWH) is limited. We aimed to identify the risk of composite CVD, individual CVD events and common risk factors.

Methods

This was a nationwide population-based cohort study comparing adult (≥18y) PWH with HIV-negative individuals matched on age, sex, ethnicity and location. The primary outcome was composite CVD comprising stroke, myocardial infarction (MI), peripheral vascular disease (PVD), ischaemic heart disease and heart failure. The secondary outcomes were individual CVD events, hypertension, diabetes, chronic kidney disease (CKD) and all-cause mortality. Cox proportional hazard regression models were used to examine the risk of each outcome.

Results

We identified 9233 PWH and 35721 HIV-negative individuals. An increased risk was found for composite CVD (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR] 1.50, 95% CI 1.28-1.77), stroke (aHR 1.42, 95% CI 1.08-1.86), ischaemic heart disease (aHR 1.55, 95% CI 1.24-1.94), hypertension (aHR 1.37, 95% CI 1.23-1.53), type 2 diabetes (aHR 1.28, 95% CI 1.09-1.50), CKD (aHR 2.42, 95% CI 1.98-2.94) and all-cause mortality (aHR 2.84, 95% CI (2.48-3.25).

Conclusions

PWH have a heightened risk for CVD and common CVD risk factors, reinforcing the importance for regular screening for such conditions.