Abstract
To determine the association of self-perceived fat gain or fat loss in central and peripheral body sites with adherence to highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) in HIV-seropositive women. 1,671 women from the Women’s Interagency HIV Study who reported HAART use between April 1999 and March 2006 were studied. Adherence was defined as report of taking HAART ≥ 95% of the time during the prior 6 months. Participant report of any increase or decrease in the chest, abdomen, or upper back in the prior 6 months defined central fat gain and central fat loss, respectively. Report of any increase or decrease in the face, arms, legs or buttocks in the prior 6 months defined peripheral fat gain or peripheral fat loss. Younger age, being African-American (vs. White non-Hispanic), a history of IDU, higher HIV RNA at the previous visit, and alcohol consumption were significant predictors of HAART non-adherence (P < 0.05). After multivariate adjustment, self-perception of central fat gain was associated with a 1.5-fold increased odds of HAART non-adherence compared to no change. Self-perception of fat gain in the abdomen was the strongest predictor of HAART non-adherence when the individual body sites were studied. Women who perceive central fat gain particularly in the abdomen are at risk for decreased adherence to HAART despite recent evidence to suggest that HIV and specific antiretroviral drugs are more commonly associated with fat loss than fat gain.
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Acknowledgements
Data in this manuscript were collected by the Women’s Interagency HIV Study (WIHS) Collaborative Study Group with centers (Principal Investigators) at New York City/Bronx Consortium (Kathryn Anastos); Brooklyn, NY (Howard Minkoff); Washington DC Metropolitan Consortium (Mary Young); The Connie Wofsy Study Consortium of Northern California (Ruth Greenblatt); Los Angeles County/Southern California Consortium (Alexandra Levine); Chicago Consortium (Mardge Cohen); Data Coordinating Center (Stephen J. Gange). The WIHS is funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, with additional supplemental funding from the National Cancer Institute, the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research, the National Center for Research Resources, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. U01-AI-35004, U01-AI-31834, U01-AI-34994, U01-AI-34994, U01-AI-34989, U01-HD-32632 (NICHD), U01-AI-34993, U01-AI-42590, M01-RR00079, and M01-RR00083. Dr. Tien is supported by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases through K23 AI 66943-01. This study was supported by an independent research grant from Gilead Sciences (Francois Everhard). Participating institutions approved this study and consent forms provided to study participants.
The authors wish to thank Michael Costa for his technical assistance in the preparation of this manuscript.
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Plankey, M., Bacchetti, P., Jin, C. et al. Self-Perception of Body Fat Changes and HAART Adherence in the Women’s Interagency HIV Study. AIDS Behav 13, 53–59 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10461-008-9444-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10461-008-9444-7