Screening for geriatric syndromes among older adults living with HIV in Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, and Togo

To assess the status of care for older people living with HIV in Burkina Faso (BF), Côte d’Ivoire (CI), and Togo (TG).

A cross-sectional site assessment was conducted from January to March 2022 in BF, CI, and TG. Care centers with an active cohort of more than 500 people living with HIV were surveyed.

A total of 61,006 people living with HIV were followed up at the 27 sites surveyed. More than a third (34%) were aged 50 years or older, and 98.4 % were on antiretroviral treatment. Routinely, 88.8% (n=24) of care centers collected data on comorbidities, mainly high blood pressure (23/24) and diabetes (21/24). In three centers, screening for six geriatric syndromes was carried out: depression (3/3), malnutrition (2/3), urinary incontinence (2/3), visual impairment (2/3), and dementia (2/3). No gold standard screening tools were used to screen for these geriatric syndromes. There were geriatricians in the three countries surveyed (CI: 8; TG: 1; BF: 1), but only CI had a geriatric center.

Geriatric syndromes are rarely systematically screened among older people living with HIV, who represent nearly one-third of active cohorts in West Africa. There is a need to provide holistic care with screening tools tailored to the local context.