Abstract
OBJECTIVE: We investigated the effect of oropharyngeal candidiasis (OC) and body mass index (BMI) before antiretroviral therapy (ART) initiation on treatment outcomes of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-positive patients. STUDY DESIGN: Treatment outcomes included failure to increase CD4 count by ≥50 or ≥100 cells/μL or failure to suppress viral load (<400 copies/mL) at 6 or 12 months in addition to loss to follow-up (LTFU) and mortality by 12 months. Risk and hazard ratios (HRs) were estimated with the use of log-binomial regression and Cox proportional hazards models, respectively. RESULTS: Baseline CD4 <100 cells/μL, low BMI (<18.5 kg/m(2)), low hemoglobin, and elevated aspartate transaminase were associated with OC at ART initiation. Patients with low BMI with and without, respectively, OC were at risk of mortality (HR 2.42, 95% CI 1.88-3.12; HR 1.87, 95% CI 1.54-2.28) and LTFU (HR 1.36, 95% CI 1.02-1.82; HR 1.55, 95% CI 1.30-1.85). CONCLUSIONS: Low BMI (with/without OC) at ART initiation was associated with poor treatment outcomes. Conversely, normal BMI with OC was associated with adequate CD4 response and reduced LTFU compared with without OC.