Comorbidity burden was more strongly associated with COVID-19 hospitalization among older, when compared with younger, people with HIV, according to results from a retrospective cohort study published in AIDS. Cecile A. Lahiri, MD, MSc, and colleagues examined whether factors related to COVID-19 hospitalization varied according to age among all adults with HIV who tested positive for COVID-19 at a public safety-net health system between March 2020 and February 2021 and a Veterans Affairs medical center between March 11 and November 15, 2020. The study included 365 people with HIV (mean age, 49), and nearly all patients (96%) were on ART. Age (adjusted OR [aOR], 1.07; 95% CI, 1.04-1.10), later SARS-CoV-2 infection date (aOR, 0.997; 95% CI, 0.995-1.00), heart disease (aOR, 2.27; 95% CI, 1.06-4.85), and history of hepatitis C virus (HCV; aOR, 2.59; 95% CI, 1.13-5.89) were associated with COVID-19 hospitalization. Age-adjusted comorbidity burden was associated with a 30% greater risk for hospitalization (aOR, 1.30; 95% CI, 1.11-1.54). Among 168 people with HIV younger than 50, older age (aOR, 1.09; 95% CI, 1.01-1.18) and no ART use (aOR, 40.26; 95% CI, 4.12- 393.62) were associated with hospitalization, but age-adjusted comorbidity burden was not. In a group of 197 people with HIV who were aged 50 or older, older age (aOR, 1.10; 95% CI, 1.04-1.16), heart disease (aOR, 2.45; 95% CI, 1.04- 5.77), history of HCV (aOR, 3.52; 95% CI, 1.29-9.60), and age-adjusted comorbidity burden (aOR, 1.36; 95% CI, 1.12-1.66) were associated with hospitalization. “These findings may have important implications for risk-stratifying COVID-19 therapies and booster recommendations in [people with HIV],” Dr. Lahiri and colleagues wrote.
