People with HIV have 34 percent higher rate of COPD than those without; smoking may be to blame
THURSDAY, Feb. 20, 2020 (HealthDay News) — People with HIV are more likely to have chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and are diagnosed with the disease at a younger age than people who are HIV-negative, according to a study published online Feb. 18 in CMAJ Open.
Tony Antoniou, Ph.D., from St. Michael’s Hospital and the University of Toronto, and colleagues performed a population-based study to compare the incidence of COPD in people with and without HIV. Using data from health administrative databases from Ontario, where more than 40 percent of Canadians with HIV reside, the authors analyzed the incidence of COPD among adults who were at least 35 years old between 1996 and 2015.
The researchers identified 1,899 people with HIV and 1,168,727 people without HIV who were diagnosed with COPD. Patients with COPD and HIV were younger than patients with COPD only (mean age, 49.7 versus 62.2 years). People with HIV had higher rates of COPD than those without HIV (10.4 versus 9.0 cases per 1,000 person-years). According to data from a sensitivity analysis, a higher prevalence of smoking among people with HIV could explain the increased risk for COPD in this population.
“While other factors may contribute to the development of COPD in people with HIV, our work highlights the importance of trying to help our patients with HIV quit smoking to prevent COPD in the first place and prevent further lung damage in people who are already diagnosed with COPD,” Antoniou said in a statement.
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