Type 2 diabetes prevalence and its risk factors in HIV: A cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND: Type 2 diabetes (T2D) has a reported greater prevalence and poorer treatment outcomes in people living with HIV (PLWH) than comparable HIV-uninfected cohorts. We conducted a cross-sectional study to delineate the factors driving T2D in PLWH in an ethnically diverse cohort, and additionally observed how these have changed over time. SETTING: We studied a diverse HIV cohort in London to determine the prevalence and risk factors for T2D, and compared them to a cohort studied 10 years previously. METHODS: Patients were classified as normoglycaemic (fasting glucose <6.0 mmol/l) or dysglycaemic (≥6.0 mmol/l). The relative contribution to dysglycaemia of modifiable and fixed factors, including demographics, anthropometrics, comorbidities, immune status, and HIV therapy, were analysed using univariate and logistic regression analyses. RESULTS: T2D prevalence was 15.1% in 2015 with a relative risk of 2.4 compared to the general population. The prevalence compared to 6.8% ten years earlier. The 2015 versus the 2005 cohort was significantly older (median age 49 (42–57) years versus 41 (IQR 35–47), p<0.001), had a higher BMI (27.4 (23.3–29.9) versus 24.9 (22.4–28.0) kg/m(2) respectively, p = 0.019) and hypertensive (37.9% versus 19.6 respectively, p<0.001). The strongest predictors of dysglycaemia in the 2015 cohort were hepatic steatosis and hypertension, odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) 6.74 (3.48–13.03) and 2.92 (1.66–5.16) respectively, and also HIV-related factors of weight gain following antiretroviral initiation and longer known duration of HIV infection (OR 1.07 (1.04–1.11) and 1.06 (1.02–1.10) respectively). CONCLUSIONS: The alarmingly high prevalence of T2D in HIV requires improved screening, targeted to older patients and those with a longer duration of exposure to antiretrovirals. Effective diabetes prevention and management strategies are needed urgently to reduce this risk; such interventions should target both conventional risk factors, such as abdominal obesity, and HIV-specific risk factors such as weight gain following initiation of antiretrovirals.