Comparison of healthspan-related indicators between adults with and without HIV infection aged 18–59 in the United States: a secondary analysis of NAHNES 1999–March 2020

BACKGROUND: As persons with HIV (PWH) live longer they may experience a heightened burden of poor health.

However, few studies have characterized the multi-dimentional health of PWH.

Thus, we aimed to identify the extent and pattern of health disparities, both within HIV infection status and across age (or sex) specific groups.

METHODS: We used cross-sectional data from the US National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 1999–March 2020.

The adjusted prevalence of six healthspan-related indicators—physical frailty, activities of daily living (ADL) disability, mobility disability, depression, multimorbidity, and all-cause death—was evaluated.

Logistic regression and Cox proportional hazards analyses were used to investigate associations between HIV status and healthspan-related indicators, with adjustment for individual-level demographic characteristics and risk behaviors.

RESULTS: The analytic sample consisted of 33 200 adults (170 (0.51%) were PWH) aged 18–59 years in the United States.

The mean (interquartile range) age was 35.1 (25.0–44.0) years, and 49.4% were male.

PWH had higher adjusted prevalences for all of the 6 healthspan-related indicators, as compared to those without HIV, ranged from 17.4% (95% CI: 17.4%, 17.5%) vs. 2.7% (95%CI: 2.7%, 2.7%) for all-cause mortality, to 84.3% (95% CI: 84.0%, 84.5%) vs. 69.8% (95%CI: 69.7%, 69.8%) for mobility disability.

While the prevalence difference was largest in ADL disability (23.4% (95% CI: 23.2%, 23.7%); P < 0.001), and least in multimorbidity (6.9% (95% CI: 6.8%, 7.0%); P < 0.001).

Generally, the differences in prevalence by HIV status were greater in 50–59 years group than those in 18–29 group.

Males with HIV suffered higher prevalence of depression and multimorbidity, while females with HIV were more vulnerable to functional limitation and disabilities.

HIV infection was associated with higher odds for 3 of the 6 healthspan-related indicators after fully adjusted, such as physical frailty and depression.

Sensitivity analyses did not change the health differences between adults with and without HIV infection.

CONCLUSIONS: In a large sample of U.S. community-dwelling adults, by identifying the extent and pattern of health disparities, we characterized the multi-dimentional health of PWHs, providing important public health implications for public policy that aims to improve health of persons with HIV and further reduce these disparities.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12889-023-15538-6.