Systematic Review of Prevalence and Predictors of Frailty in Individuals with Human Immunodeficiency Virus - American Geriatric Society

Objectives

To describe the prevalence and predictors of frailty in individuals with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) using systematic review methodology.

Design

Review.

Setting

Community.

Participants

Older adults with HIV.

Measurements

Medline, CINAHL, EMBASE, PsychInfo, and PubMed were searched for original observational studies with populations including individuals with HIV in which frailty was assessed using the frailty phenotype or a variant thereof. Studies were examined for frailty prevalence and predictors of the syndrome in those with HIV.

Results

Thirteen of 322 citations were included for full review. All demonstrated the presence of frailty in individuals with HIV, with prevalence ranging from 5% to 28.6% depending on population studied. HIV was a risk factor for frailty. Predictors of frailty included older age, comorbidities, diagnosis of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, and low current CD4⁺ cell count.

Conclusion

HIV appears to be an independent risk factor for frailty, with frailty occurring in individuals with HIV at rates comparable with older individuals without HIV. Heterogeneity in study populations and frailty assessment measures hamper accurate description of the problem. Future longitudinal work with standardized methodology is needed to describe prevalence accurately and confirm predictors.

from Journal of the American Geriatrics Society http://ift.tt/1Z1CjnQ
via IFTTT