Background. Comorbidities in people living with HIV (PLWH) represent a major clinical challenge today, and metabolic syndrome (MTBS) is one of the most important. Objective. Our objective was to assess the prevalence of MTBS and the role of both clinical/socio-behavioral risk factors for MTBS in a cohort of PLWH. Methods. All PLWH, over 18 years of age, attending all Infectious Disease Units in Calabria Region (Southern Italy) for their routine checks from October 2019-January 2020 were enrolled. MTBS was defined by NCEP-ATP III criteria. Logistic regression analysis was performed to assess factors significantly associated with the main outcome (MTBS). Results. We enrolled 356 PLWH, mostly males (68.5%), with a mean age of 49 years (standard deviation: 12), including 98 subjects with and 258 without MTBS. At logistic regression analysis, a statistically significant association was found between MTBS and alcohol use, osteoporosis, polypharmacy, and a history of AIDS. Conclusions. Identifying and addressing risk factors, including those that are socio-behavioral or lifestyle-related, is crucial to prevent and treat MTBS. Our results suggest the importance of implementing educational/multidimensional interventions to prevent MTBS in PLWH, especially for those with particular risk factors (alcohol abuse, osteoporosis, previous AIDS events, and polypharmacy). Moreover, alcohol consumption or abuse should be routinely investigated in clinical practice.
Keywords: AIDS; HIV; PLWH; diabetes; dyslipidemia; metabolic syndrome; non-communicable diseases.