Author(s)

Alassane Ndiaye¹, Ndèye Fatou Ngom^1,2, Kiné Ndiaye¹, Assiétou Gaye³, Elhadji Bara Diop⁴, Ahmadou Mboup¹, Houlèye Saou¹, Bessoume Sy¹, Ababacar Niang¹, Betty Fall¹, Mame Awa Faye¹

¹Outpatient Treatment Clinic (CTA), Dakar, Senegal.
²Medicine Department of Health and Sustainable Development/Research and Training Unit (UFRSDD), Alioune Diop University of Bambey, Diourbel, Senegal.
³Health and Development Institute (ISED), Cheikh Anta Diop University, Dakar, Senegal.
⁴Geriatrics and Gerontology Department, Fann National Teaching Hospital Center, Dakar, Senegal.

Introduction: Life expectancy improvement for people living with Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) is coming up against the problems associated with aging and chronic diseases. Frailty is a concern affecting a growing number of patients, particularly the elderly in this population. Our study aimed to determine the prevalence of frailty and its predictors on people living with HIV aged 50 years and older followed at the Outpatient Treatment Clinic (CTA) in Dakar. Methodology: We conducted a cross-sectional study of descriptive and analytic purposes ranging from November 2022 to August 2023, in CTA, Dakar (Senegal). We included people living with HIV aged 50 years and older under antiretroviral therapy for at least 6 months (≥6 months). Frailty was considered according to Fried criteria with a score ≥3. To identify the predictors of frailty, we performed a multivariate logistic regression analysis using STATA software version 18. Results: We included 199 patients. The median age at the moment of the study was 58 years old [50 - 91] with a sex ratio (M/F) of 0.58. The most representative age group was that of [50 - 59] years (59.3%). HIV-1 profile was most common in 89.45%. The median duration under antiretroviral therapy was 180 months [6 - 284] and 94% of patients received a Tenofovir Disoproxil Fumarate (TDF)-containing regimen with 43% of them for at least 10 years. Viral load was undetectable (≤40 copies/ml) in 98% of cases. WHO Stage III was more common at inclusion and 55.78% had nadir TCD4+ Lymphocyte counts < 200 elements/mm3. In our study, 80% of patients underwent at least one comorbidity (≥1) and 31% of patients had polymedication (≥5). Nutritional disorder was found in 65 patients. Frailty and prefrailty appeared in 28% and 36% of cases respectively. In multivariate analysis, nutritional disorder [aOR = 3.8 (2.3 - 6.4)], length of TDF-containing regimen exposure ≥10 years [aOR = 29.03 (9.5 - 89.7)], and polypharmacy [aOR = 1.53 (1.1 - 2.12)] were associated with frailty. Conclusion: Our study confirms the high prevalence of frailty among older people living with HIV. Its prevention should consider the management of comorbidities and the implementation of non-pharmacological interventions such as nutrition.

Frailty, HIV, Senior, Dakar

Ndiaye, A. , Ngom, N. , Ndiaye, K. , Gaye, A. , Diop, E. , Mboup, A. , Saou, H. , Sy, B. , Niang, A. , Fall, B. and Faye, M. (2024) Frailty in People Living with Human Immunodeficiency Virus Aged 50 Years and Older: Prevalence and Predictors. World Journal of AIDS, 14, 18-34. doi: 10.4236/wja.2024.141002.