People receiving medical care for HIV have benefited from a declining rate of hospitalization in recent years, Healio reports. This is according to a new study published in The Journal of Infectious Diseases.

Thibaut Davy-Mendez, PhD, of the University of California, San Francisco, and his colleagues analyzed data on 28,057 people with HIV receiving medical care in six clinical cohorts in the United States and Canada between 2005 and 2015.

The cohort members were followed for a cumulative 125,724 years. Each of them had at least one CD4 count or viral load test result recorded in their medical chart every 12 months.

During the 10-year study period, the median CD4 count increased from 389 to 580, and the proportion of those who had an undetectable viral load increased from 55% to 85%.

In 2005, the cohort’s hospitalization rate was 22.3 hospitalizations per 100 cumulative years of follow-up—meaning that for every 100 people, there were that many hospitalizations among them during that one year. This rate declined to 13 hospitalizations in 2015. The hospitalization rate declined for almost all diagnostic categories.

Next, the study authors adjusted the data to account for differences in demographic factors, including age, between the cohort members as well as their HIV risk factor, CD4 count and viral load.

After adjusting the data, they found that between 2005 and 2015, the overall hospitalization rate declined, as did the hospitalization rate for cardiovascular disease and for AIDS-defining conditions. The rate increased for non–AIDS-defining infections and was stable for most other diagnostic categories.

The study authors noted that the cohort saw the decline in their hospitalization rate “despite the potential effects of aging, comorbidities [other health conditions] and cumulative exposure to HIV and antiretrovirals.”

To read the Healio article, click here. 

To read the study, click here.