Characteristics of people hospitalized for HIV: multivariate cluster analysis of antiretroviral therapy interruption

To investigate the relationship between antiretroviral therapy (ART) interruption and sociodemographic and clinical variables in hospitalized people living with HIV.

A retrospective, documentary cohort study conducted in a teaching hospital in southern Brazil. Data were collected from August 2023 to April 2024 through the analysis of medical records of patients hospitalized between January 1, 2022, and January 31, 2024. The outcome was ART interruption. Data analysis employed multiple correspondence and cluster analysis.

A total of 219 individuals were included. The group that interrupted ART (n=98; 44,7%) and presented worse prognoses was predominantly composed of men, self-identified as Black, with less than eight years of schooling, without a stable partner, and were alcohol users. Clinically, they had high viral load, low lymphocyte counts, and an AIDS diagnosis. In addition, they had a history of previous treatment interruptions, infection-related signs and symptoms, use of a third or subsequent ART regimen, travel time greater than 31 minutes to collect medications, and some progressed to death (n=68; 91,9%).

The group with worse prognoses was closely related to social inequities, associated with access barriers, lower quality of care, and difficulties in adhering to ART.