The Association of Anemia With Survival Among People With HIV Following Antiretroviral Initiation in the NA-ACCORD 2007-2016

Abstract

Background: Anemia is an independent predictor of mortality, which may be utilized as a signal of deteriorating health. We estimated the association between anemia severity categories and mortality following the initiation of antiretroviral therapy (ART) among people with HIV (PWH) in North America.

Methods: Within the NA-ACCORD, annual median hemoglobin measurements between January 01, 2007, and December 31, 2016, were categorized using World Health Organization criteria into mild (11.0-12.9 g/dL men, 11.0-11.9 g/dL women), moderate (8.0-10.9 g/dL men/women), and severe (<8.0 g/dL men/women) anemia. Discrete time-to-event analyses using complementary log-log link models estimated mortality hazard ratios adjusted for demographics, comorbidities, and HIV clinical markers with 95% confidence intervals for the association between anemia and mortality.

Results: Among 67,228 PWH contributing a total of 320,261 annual median hemoglobin measurements, 257,293 (80%) demonstrated no anemia, 44,041 (14%) mild, 18,259 (6%) moderate, and 668 (0.2%) severe anemia during follow-up. Mortality risk was 5.6-fold higher among PWH with (vs. without) anemia. The association was greater among men (adjusted hazard ratios = 5.8 [5.4, 6.2]) versus women (adjusted hazard ratios = 4.1 [3.2, 5.4]). Mortality risk was 3.8-fold higher among PWH with mild anemia, 13.7-fold higher with moderate anemia, and 34.5-fold higher with severe anemia (vs. no anemia). Median hemoglobin levels decreased significantly in the 4 years before death, with a maximum decrease in the year before death. Macrocytic anemia was associated with an increased mortality risk and microcytic anemia was associated with a decreased mortality risk (vs. normocytic anemia).

Conclusions: Anemia among PWH who have initiated ART is an important predictive marker for mortality with macrocytic anemia having an increased association and microcytic anemia having a decreased association with mortality compared with normocytic anemia.