Improving 1-Year Mortality Following Intensive Care Unit Admission in Adults with HIV: A 20-Year Observational Study

Despite widespread use of combination antiretroviral therapy, people with HIV (PWH) continue to have an increased risk of admission to and mortality in the intensive care unit (ICU). Mortality risk after hospital discharge is not well described. Using retrospective data on adult PWH (≥18 years) admitted to ICU from 2000-2019 in an HIV-referral centre, we describe trends in 1-year mortality after ICU admission.

One-year mortality was calculated from index ICU admission to date of death; with follow-up right-censored at day 365 for people remaining alive at 1 year, or day 7 after ICU discharge if lost-to-follow-up after hospital discharge. Cox regression was used to describe the association with calendar year before and after adjustment for patient characteristics (age, sex, Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II [APACHE II] score, CD4+ T-cell count, and recent HIV diagnosis) at ICU admission. Analyses were additionally restricted to those discharged alive from ICU using a left-truncated design, with further adjustment for respiratory failure at ICU admission in these analyses.

Two hundred and twenty-one PWH were admitted to ICU (72% male, median [interquartile range] age 45 [38-53] years) of whom 108 died within 1-year (cumulative 1-year survival: 50%). Overall, the hazard of 1-year mortality was decreased by 10% per year (crude hazard ratio (HR): 0.90 (95% confidence interval: 0.87-0.93)); the association was reduced to 7% per year (adjusted HR: 0.93 (0.89-0.98)) after adjustment. Conclusions were similar among the subset of 136 patients discharged alive (unadjusted: 0.91 (0.84-0.98); adjusted 0.92 (0.84, 1.02)).

Between 2000 and 2019, 1-year mortality after ICU admission declined at this ICU. Our findings highlight the need for multi-centre studies and the importance of continued engagement in care after hospital discharge among PWH.