Introduction: Literature on hospitalization incidence and risks among people with HIV (PWH) in the current antiretroviral therapy era is limited. Methods: Using data (2017 to 2021) on PWH ≥40 years of age from the Advancing Clinical Therapeutics Globally (ACTG) HAILO Study, cumulative probabilities of first hospitalization were estimated using Kaplan-Meier plots. Cox proportional hazards regression was used to identify factors associated with first hospitalization. Results: Among 891 participants (median age 50 years; 80% male), 38 with prevalent hospitalization at baseline were excluded. The remaining 853 participants had a follow-up of 2721 person-years, during which 170 (20%) had at least 1 hospitalization event (incidence rate, 6.2 per 100 person-years 95% CI=5.4-7.3). The leading causes of hospitalization included infections (14%), elective surgery (13%), cardiovascular conditions (12%), and lung problems (12%). Former and current smokers had higher hospitalization risk (adjusted hazard ratio aHR 1.51 95% CI=1.03-2.20, aHR 1.85 95% CI=1.24-2.76, respectively) than never smokers. Hospitalization risk was higher for participants who were frail (aHR 2.31 95% CI=1.38-3.86) compared to those that were robust (not frail), and lower in the Western region compared with the Northeast region (HR= 0.55, 95% CI: 0.32–0.93). Hospitalization risk was also higher for participants with diabetes (aHR 1.69 95% CI=1.13-2.52. Conclusion: We observed a lower hospitalization risk than in previous studies among PWH. Interventions to reduce smoking, prevent frailty, and improve diabetes management may further lower hospitalization risk.
Kasirye et al. (Mon,) studied this question.