Factors associated with social deprivation among older persons living with HIV

ABSTRACT

Aging persons living with HIV may develop multiple health problems, including comorbidities, and altered physical and mental health, earlier than non-infected people. They may also experience social deprivation. We assessed the prevalence of social deprivation and its relationship with health indicators in older persons living with HIV. An 18-month, multicenter, cross-sectional study was carried out between 2013 and 2014 focusing on patients ≥50-years of age followed-up in 12 dedicated HIV medical hospital units located in the South of France and involved the VISAGE study group. Social deprivation was measured with the EPICES (Evaluation of Deprivation and Inequalities in Health Examination Centers) score (ES) and defined as ES ≥30.17. The following data were recorded: health indicators (gender, age, body mass index), comorbidities, frailty markers, socioeconomic, behavioral and age-related variables. Among 509 patients recruited, 494 completed the ES social deprivation evaluation. Mean age was 58.5 ± 7.0 years and 72.9% were male. The prevalence of social deprivation was 49.0%. Multivariable logistic regression analysis showed that higher social deprivation was significantly linked to alcohol consumption (OR = 4.07 [95%CI: 1.23–13.48]), risk of depression (OR = 3.59 [95%CI: 2.26–5.70]), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (OR = 3.10 [95%CI: 1.36–7.09]), hepatitis C (OR = 1.96 [95%CI: 1.10–3.52]), and chronic pain (OR = 1.11 [95%CI: 1.01–1.21]). Social deprivation was not related to HIV status. Our study showed that not only did older patients with HIV suffer from social deprivation, but they also received little support from social workers. Physicians should be aware of this situation and should systematically evaluate social deprivation in order to provide comprehensive targeted care involving global, social, and psychological support to reduce the burden of social deprivation.

KEYWORDS:

• HIV
• aging
• social deprivation
• alcohol
• depression

Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful to all individuals who participated in the study. The authors wrote this article on behalf of the VISAGE group and wish to thank all the members of the VISAGE group for their investment in the study.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

ORCID

Patricia Enel http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1932-0533

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Assistance Publique Hopitaux de Marseille, and Gilead Sciences. The funders had no role in the design, methods, subject recruitment, data collection, analysis, or preparation of the paper.