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. 2023 Feb;24(2):170-179.
doi: 10.1111/hiv.13356. Epub 2022 Jul 15.

Mapping frailty in people living with HIV: A nationwide study in Greece

Dimitra Tsakona  1 , Anargyros Kapetanakis  1 , Dimitrios Kyrou  1 , Nikolaos Vrontaras  1 , Aliki Xochelli  1 , Simeon Metallidis  2 , Olga Tsachouridou  2 , Maria Chini  3 , Maria Meliou  3 , Mina Psichogiou  4 , Dimitrios Basoulis  4 , Anastasia Antoniadou  5 , Konstantinos Protopapas  5 , Periklis Panagopoulos  6 , Vasilis Petrakis  6 , Charalambos Gogos  7 , Leonidia Leonidou  7 , Christina Karamanidou  1
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Free article

Mapping frailty in people living with HIV: A nationwide study in Greece

Dimitra Tsakona et al. HIV Med. 2023 Feb.
Free article

Abstract

Objectives: Frailty is known to affect people living with HIV prematurely, compared to the ageing seronegative population. In this cross-sectional study, we aimed to assess frailty prevalence in people living with HIV in Greece and find associations of frailty criteria with clinical data.

Methods: Demographic and clinical data were collected from 477 participants in six HIV clinics. Fried's frailty phenotype was used to assess frailty prevalence, and participants were classified as frail, pre-frail or robust. Associations of several factors with overall frailty phenotype, as well as with frailty criteria, were explored.

Results: The median age was 43 years old (IQR = 51.5) and 444/477 (93%) were men. Most of the participants (429/477, 93.5%) had an undetectable HIV viral load, and a CD4 cell count over 500 cells/μl (366/477, 76.7%). Frailty assessment classified 285/477 (62.1%) as robust, 155/477 (33.8%) as pre-frail and 19/477 (4.1%) as frail. Weakness in grip strength was the most prevalent criterion (128/477, 26.8%), followed by exhaustion (46/477, 9.6%). Lower CD4 cell count, history of AIDS diagnosis, CNS disorders, psychiatric diagnoses, and polypharmacy were strongly associated with frailty.

Conclusions: Although the prevalence of frailty in people living with HIV in Greece is uncommon, when combined with pre-frailty over a third of people are affected, which requires attention in clinical practice. The physical and psychological aspects of frailty highlight the need for a holistic approach to prevent or counteract it. The diverse associations of frailty criteria with HIV-related and non-HIV-related factors suggest a possible variation in people's different healthcare needs.

Keywords: HIV; clinical; frailty; holistic; multimorbidity.

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References

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