Anemia in HIV infection: clinical impact and evidence-based management strategies

Anemia in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected patients can have serious implications, which vary from functional and quality-of-life decrements to an association with disease progression and decreased survival. In 2002, 16 members of the Anemia in HIV Working Group, an expert panel of physicians involved in the care of HIV-infected patients that met first in 1998, reconvened to assess new data and to translate these data into evidence-based treatment guidelines. The group reached consensus on the prevalence of anemia in the highly active antiretroviral therapy era; the risk factors that are independently associated with the development of anemia; the impact of anemia on quality of life, physical functioning, and survival; the impact of the treatment of hepatitis C virus coinfection on anemia in HIV-infected patients; evidence-based guidelines for treatment of anemia in HIV-infected patients, including the therapeutic role of epoetin alfa; and directions for future research.