Hospitalizations for any cause in people living with HIV decreased by more than half between 1994 and 2005, according to a study published in the July 11 issue of AIDS.

The death rate has dropped substantially since the introduction in 1995 and 1996 of triple-combination antiretroviral (ARV) therapy. To determine the effect of ARV therapy on hospitalizations, Kate Buchacz, PhD, from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, and her colleagues examined the medical records of 7,155 patients enrolled in the HIV Outpatient Study (HOPS) between 1994 and 2005.

Over the course of the study, 2,141 people were hospitalized a total of 4,735 times. The overall rate of hospitalizations fell by more than half between 1994 and 2005. Even more dramatic, there were nearly eight times fewer hospitalizations for AIDS-related opportunistic infections in 2005 than in 1994. The reduction in hospitalizations occurred equally for men and women and among people of different races and ethnicities. Rates of hospitalizations for non-AIDS-related causes remained the same over time.

Buchacz’s team also found that lowest ever CD4 count (nadir) and current CD4 count had an impact on hospitalizations both before and after the introduction of triple-combination ARV regimens. People with the lowest nadir and current CD4 counts were most likely to be hospitalized, leading the authors to comment that perhaps earlier initiation of ARV therapy may result in even fewer hospitalizations.