Relationship of sleep disorders with long-term complications and health-related quality of life in people with well-controlled human immunodeficiency virus

Although sleep disorders are common in patients with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection, they have not been adequately evaluated under currently advanced treatments, mainly with integrase strand transfer inhibitors. However, the relationship of sleep disorders with long-term complications and quality of life (QOL) status in patients infected with HIV is still poorly understood. Such associations are important in the management of outpatients with HIV. Hence, this study aimed to evaluate these associations. This cross-sectional observational study assessed the QOL changes of patients with HIV before and after the treatment regimen change. Male patients with well-controlled HIV who attended our hospital and changed HIV medications for reasons other than treatment failure between October 2019 and September 2021 were included. At the time of regimen change, sleep disorder status was assessed according to the Pittsburgh sleep quality index (PSQI), and health-related QOL (HRQOL) was assessed using the medical outcomes study 8-item short form health survey. In addition, we collected information on age, blood tests, and long-term comorbid conditions present during the evaluation. The HIV treatment regimen was also reviewed. Out of 45 male Japanese patients with HIV that were included in this study, 24 (53.3%) and 21 (46.7%) were classified into the sleep disorder group and nonsleep disorder group, respectively, according to their PSQI scores. The sleep disorder group had a significantly lower HRQOL mental component summary (P = .0222) than the nonsleep disorder group. The prevalence rates of hypertension, dyslipidemia, and diabetes mellitus were not significantly different between the 2 groups. In addition, a significant correlation was observed between PSQI scores and the HRQOL status (mental component summary, P = .0450; physical component summary, P = .0350). Sleep disorders remain common in patients with well-controlled HIV infection receiving current treatment. Sleep disorder is significantly associated with a low HRQOL in these patients. Hence, sleep status evaluation is necessary to improve HIV management.