Comorbidity indices in people with HIV and considerations for coronavirus disease 2019 outcomes.
Comorbidity indices in people with HIV and considerations for coronavirus disease 2019 outcomes.
Publication
Lay summary
COVID-19 outcomes have been shown to be worse in people with pre-existing clinical conditions. People with HIV are thought to have an increased risk of some of these conditions. Therefore, we wished to describe these co-morbidities using tools that have been recommended for COVID-19 monitoring. WE measured three standard indices of comorbidities – the Elixhauser Comorbidity Index (ECI), the Charlson Comorbidity Index and the Comorbidity Burden Index – and compared each of these between older people with HIV and HIV-negative controls in the study. While all three indices were significantly higher in people with HIV than in controls, the size of the differences in the scores between the two groups were relatively small. In particular, the differences that we saw were driven by more individuals with HIV being within the higher end of the range.