Abstract / Summary
Recent studies showed that human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) impacts the human biological system, which might compromise the domains of Intrinsic capacity (IC) in people living with HIV (PLWH). This has the potential to accelerate aging and increase vulnerability to adverse health outcomes among PLWHs. This study measures IC and associated factors among PLWH on antiretroviral treatment and people with HIV (PLWoH) in a clinic in Plateau State, Nigeria. A cross-sectional analytical study that assessed the IC and associated factors among adult PLWH on antiretroviral therapy and compared them with those of PLWoH. A total of 239 age-matched PLWH and 234 PLWoH were sampled. The outcome of interest was participants’ IC measured using the WHO 9-item ICOPE brief screening tool. The IC was categorized into binary responses: Impaired or not impaired. The participant with any sign of loss in any of the domain item(s) was categorized as “Impaired IC”. Data were presented using frequency tables, and factors associated with IC in PLWH were assessed using univariate and multivariate logistic regression at a 0.05 level of statistical significance. The mean ages of participants were 41.4 ± 9.7 and 38.5 ± 12.3 years for PLWHs and PLWoH, respectively ( p < 0.01). The PLWH group had significantly higher female respondents, 186 (77.8%), than the PLWoH group, 152 (65.0%) ( p = 0.02). The overall composite impaired IC was about 11 times more in the PLWH group compared to the PLWoH group [PLWH: 217 (98.0%), PLWoH: 109 (46.6%), p < 0.01]. IC impairment was observed to be three- to fourfold higher among PLWH than among PLWoH across all IC domains, except the mobility domains. Factors associated with participants’ IC in the PLWH group, after adjusting for confounders, were current age, duration on ART, and CD4 count. IC, a component of the human functional ability to cope with aging, is greatly impaired in PLWH compared to PLWoH. There is a need for a functional approach to the assessment of aging among PLWHs, rather than a disease-based approach, to ensure early detection of IC impairment and preservation of functional ability.