The Prevalence and Predictors of Hypertension and Albuminuria in People with HIV (PWHIV)-Real-World Greek Data

After the implementations of Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy (HAART) HIV infection became a chronic condition and the clinical focus on non-AIDS-related comorbidities such as hypertension and chronic kidney disease has increased. This study aims to investigate the prevalence and independent predictors of hypertension and albuminuria in a cohort of people with HIV (PWHIV) with high rates of viral suppression.

This is a cross-sectional study of 183 HAART-experienced PWHIV. Hypertension, defined as office systolic blood pressure of ≥140 mmHg or diastolic blood pressure of ≥90 mmHg and albuminuria, was defined as a sex-based albumin-creatinine ratio (ACR) of >355 mg/g for females and >250 mg/g for males. Univariable and multivariable logistic regression was conducted to identify the association of hypertension and albuminuria with demographic, clinical, and HIV-specific factors.

The prevalence of hypertension was 43.9% (n = 74) and albuminuria was 22.4% (n = 41). In the multivariable analysis, factors independently associated with prevalence of HTN were older age, overweight/obesity, and diabetes mellitus. TDF-based ART was explored as a potential factor but did not reach statistical significance (aRR = 1.85, p = 0.065). For albuminuria, older age, diabetes mellitus, and duration of HAART (aRR = 1.03 per year) were revealed as independent predictors.

The results of this study demonstrate that the development of hypertension is primarily driven by traditional metabolic risk factors. However, the progression to albuminuria appears to be influenced not only by these comorbidities but also by long-term HIV disease and HAART exposure. These findings underline the critical need for the screening and management of hypertension and other comorbidities to mitigate the risk of long-term cardiovascular and renal complications in this aging population of PWHIV.