Long-term impact of HIV wasting on physical function

Area of Science:

• Immunology
• Infectious Diseases
• Gerontology

Background:

• The long-term physical consequences of wasting in individuals with HIV infection remain largely unknown.
• Wasting, a significant complication in HIV, can impact overall health and functional status.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the long-term physical function outcomes in HIV-infected individuals who experienced wasting.
• To compare the physical function of HIV-infected wasting survivors with HIV-infected and HIV-uninfected individuals without wasting.

Main Methods:

• Kaplan-Meier analysis identified HIV-infected men surviving ≥2 years post-wasting.
• Matched cohorts included HIV-infected and uninfected men without wasting.
• Multivariable linear regression assessed physical function (grip strength, gait speed, QoL) adjusted for covariates.

Main Results:

• HIV-infected men with prior wasting exhibited lower grip strength and poorer physical quality of life (QoL) compared to HIV-infected men without wasting.
• Compared to HIV-uninfected men, HIV-infected wasting survivors had poorer physical QoL but higher mental QoL.
• Immune suppression attenuated the link between wasting and physical QoL, but had minimal effect on grip strength.

Conclusions:

• HIV-infected wasting survivors demonstrate reduced grip strength compared to those without wasting.
• Immune suppression is linked to physical QoL but not grip strength in this cohort.
• HIV-infected wasting survivors may be at higher risk for long-term physical function decline.