Factors associated with anaemia in HIV-infected individuals in southern India

Anaemia accelerates disease progression and increases mortality among HIV-infected individuals. Few studies have characterized this problem in developing countries. Haemoglobin values of adults presenting to an HIV tertiary care center in India between 1996 and 2007 were collected (n = 6996). Multivariate logistic regression analysis was performed to examine associations among anaemia, HIV progression and co-morbidities. Overall, anaemia prevalence was 41%. Twenty percent of patients with CD4 counts >500 cells/microL were anaemic, compared with 64% of those with CD4 counts <100 cells/microL (P < 0.001). In multivariate analysis, CD4 count <100 cells/microL (odds ratio [OR]:5.0, confidence interval [CI]:4.0-6.3), underweight body mass index (OR:4.8, CI:3.6-6.5), female gender (OR:3.1, CI:2.8-3.6) and tuberculosis (TB) (OR:1.6, CI:1.4-1.8) were significantly associated with anaemia. In this setting, management of anaemia should focus on antiretroviral therapy, nutritional supplementation and TB control. The high anaemia prevalence among patients meeting criteria for antiretroviral therapy highlights the need for increased access to non-zidovudine nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors in developing countries.