Abstract
Life span of people living with HIV (PLWH) has increased dramatically with the advent of modern antiretroviral therapy. As a result, comorbidities have emerged as a significant concern in this population. To describe the burden of chronic comorbidities among PLWH and HIV-negative individuals in British Columbia (BC), Canada, we estimated disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) related to these comorbidities. Based on a population-based cohort in BC, antiretroviral-treated adult PLWH and 1:4 age-sex-matched HIV-negative controls were followed for ≥1 year during 2001-2012. DALYs combined years of life lost to premature mortality (YLLs) and due to disability (YLDs), and were estimated following the Global Burden of Diseases' approaches. DALYs associated with non-AIDS-defining cancers, diabetes, osteoarthritis, hypertension, dementia, cardiovascular (CVD), kidney, liver and chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases were each measured for 2008-2012. Among PLWH, DALYs attributed to non-AIDS-related cancers were also estimated for 2013-2020. We observed that at baseline, our matched cohort consisted of 82% males with a median age of 40 years (25th-75th percentiles: 34-47). During 2008-2012, 7042 PLWH and 30,640 HIV-negative individuals were alive, where PLWH experienced a twofold higher DALYs associated with chronic comorbidities (770.2 years/1000 people [95% credible intervals: 710.2, 831.6] vs. 359.0 [336.0, 382.2]). Non-AIDS-defining cancers and CVD contributed the highest DALYs in both populations, driven by YLLs rather than YLDs. Among PLWH, we estimated increasing DALYs attributable to non-AIDS-defining cancers with 91.7 years/1000 people (77.4, 106.0) in 2013 vs. 97.6 (81.0, 115.2) in 2020. In this study, we showed that PLWH experience a disproportionate burden of chronic comorbidities compared to HIV-negative individuals. The observed disparities may relate to differential health behaviors, residual HIV-related inflammation, and ART-related toxicities. As aging shapes future healthcare needs, our findings highlight the need to enhance prevention and management of comorbidities as part of HIV care.