Objective: We aimed to characterize non-AIDS events (NAEs) occurring in newly diagnosed HIV-infected patients in a contemporary cohort.
Methods: The Cohort of the AIDS Research Network (CoRIS) is a prospective, multicenter cohort of HIV-infected adults antiretroviral naive at entry, established in 2004. We evaluated the incidence of and the mortality due to NAEs and AIDS events through October 2010. Poisson regression was used to investigate factors associated with a higher incidence of NAEs.
Results: Overall, 5185 patients (13.306 person-years of follow-up), median age (interquartile range) 36 (29-43) years, participated in the study. A total of 86.5% patients had been diagnosed in 2004 or later. The incidence rate of NAEs was 28.93 per 1000 person-years [95% confidence interval (CI) 26.15-32.07], and of AIDS-defining events 25.23 per 1000 person-years (95% CI 22.60-28.16). The most common NAEs were psychiatric, hepatic, malignant, renal, and cardiovascular related. After adjustment, age, higher HIV-viral load, and lower CD4 cell count at cohort entry were associated with the occurrence of NAEs, whereas likelihood significantly decreased with sexual transmission and higher educational level. Additionally, antiretroviral therapy was inversely associated with the development of some NAEs, specifically of psychiatric [incidence rate ratio (95% CI) 0.54 (0.30-0.96)] and renal-related [incidence rate ratio (95% CI) 0.31 (0.13-0.72)] events. One hundred and seventy-three (3.33%) patients died during the study period. NAEs contributed to 28.9% of all deaths, with an incidence rate (95% CI) of 3.75 (2.84-4.94) per 1000 person-years.
Conclusion: In patients newly diagnosed with HIV infection, NAEs are a significant cause of morbidity and mortality. Our results suggest a protective effect of antiretroviral therapy in the occurrence of NAEs, in particular of psychiatric and renal-related events.