Comorbidities in Older Patients with HIV: a Retrospective Study

Background: The number of older adults with HIV is increasing. The authors conducted a retrospective study to determine the prevalence of selected comorbidities that may affect the delivery of oral health care to this population.

Methods: The authors reviewed the charts of 162 patients with HIV who were 50 years or older who had sought dental treatment from 2000 through 2006. The authors abstracted patients' self-reported clinical comorbidities and laboratory-verified HIV-related and hematologic values.

Results: A total of 88.8 percent of the study subjects had at least one comorbidity. Comorbidity prevalence was 44.4 percent for hepatitis C virus, 41.4 percent for hypertension, 16.7 percent for psychiatric disorders, 16.1 percent for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, 15.4 percent for anemia and 14.8 percent for heart disease. Significantly more subjects with a CD4+ cell count of less than 200 per cubic millimeter were anemic compared with subjects with counts of 200/mm(3) or more.

Conclusions: HIV-positive patients 50 years or older have a broad range of comorbidities that may affect the provision of oral health care.

Clinical Implications: Whether these patients have clinically severe or less well-controlled comorbidities that may require modification of oral health care treatment remains to be determined.