Higher Proportion of Abnormal Nutritional Status Among Well-Suppressed HIV-Infected Elderly Asians Compared to HIV-Negative Individuals

Older adults face physiological, psychological, social, and economic changes, which may impair nutritional status, making the body vulnerable to illness and adverse clinical outcomes. Little is known regarding the nutritional status among elderly people living with HIV (PLHIV). We aimed to study the prevalence of malnutrition and the associated factors in a Thai aging cohort. A cross-sectional study was conducted among PLHIV >50 years of age on long-term antiretroviral therapy and HIV-negative controls, frequency matched by sex and age in Bangkok, Thailand. Nutritional status was assessed by the Mini Nutrition Assessment (MNA) tool. Abnormal nutritional status was defined as MNA score <24 (malnutrition and at risk of malnutrition). Body composition was measured by bioelectrical impedance analysis using Body Composition Analyzer. Demographic and disease-related factors were assessed for their association with abnormal nutrition status using multivariable logistic regression. There were 349 PLHIV and 103 HIV-uninfected controls, with median age 55 years. The majority were male (63%) with median body mass index (BMI) of 23.4 kg/m². PLHIV had lower BMI [median, 23.1 (IQR, 20.8-25.2) vs. 25.3 (22.3-28.7) kg/m², p < .001], lower fat percent [22.8% vs. 26.3%, p < .001] and lower fat mass [14.2 vs. 16.9 kg, p < .001] and higher abnormal nutritional status (18.05% vs. 6.8%, p = .005) than controls. In the multivariate model, older age (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 1.06, 95% confident interval [CI]: 1.01-1.12, p = .03), positive HIV status (aOR, 2.67, 95% CI: 1.07-6.65, p = .036), diabetes mellitus (aOR, 2.21, 95% CI: 1.003-4.87, p = .049), lower fat mass (aOR, 0.70, 95%CI: 0.57-0.86, p < .001), and lower BMI (aOR, 0.63, 95% CI: 0.51-0.78, p < .001) were independently associated with abnormal nutritional status. PLHIV had higher risks for abnormal nutritional status compared with HIV-uninfected individuals. Regular screening and monitoring of nutritional status among PLHIV may promote better health outcomes.