A Review of Chronic Comorbidities in Adults Living With HIV: State of the Science.
Allison R Webel, Julie Schexnayder, Patricia A Cioe and 1 others
PMID 33595986WHAT IT FOUND
Adults living with HIV face higher cardiovascular, lung, liver, anal-cancer, diabetes, and kidney risks.
Nurses are urged to screen, counsel on smoking and alcohol, link to treatment, vaccinate, and check HIV medication interactions.
Key findings
01Adults living with HIV have a 1.5- to 2-fold increased risk of heart and blood-vessel disease, and inflammation can persist even when HIV is suppressed.
02Smoking is a major driver of lung disease and lung cancer risk in this population, and cessation trials have generally produced low quit rates, often 8% to 20%.
03Nurses are described as central to prevention through the 5As, alcohol screening and referral, linkage to hepatitis C treatment, vaccination, and care coordination.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
This is a narrative review, not an original trial or systematic review, so it summarizes existing evidence and recommendations rather than testing them. It excludes heart failure, stroke, and peripheral arterial disease, so it does not address all cardiovascular conditions that may affect these patients. The evidence for some screening tools is mixed; cardiovascular risk calculators have not been consistently validated in adults living with HIV, and a lifestyle tool has little research on its own ability to reduce risk. Anal cancer screening is not settled: there are no national routine screening recommendations, and the supportive evidence comes from observational work rather than definitive trials. Smoking cessation evidence in this population is weak overall, with low quit rates and often non-significant intervention effects.
Declared interests
The supplied publication types list NIH extramural research support. The provided article text does not include author conflict-of-interest disclosures or a statement about who designed the review.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read this review as proof that nurse-led screening, lifestyle counselling, or medication checks improve outcomes in adults living with HIV. It summarizes existing evidence and recommendations, but it does not test those strategies.