Improving the Care of Aging Adults Living With HIV

HIV is known to cause many unique health concerns in older adults, with infectees often exhibiting comorbidities and characteristics associated with older age much sooner than their age-matched HIV-negative counterparts, reports Infectious Disease Advisor . Weill Cornell Medical College Professor Eugenia L. Siegler and University of Colorado Denver-Anschutz Medical Campus Professor Kristine M. Erlandson offer strategies to better care for older adults with HIV to address major health issues in this population. One study seeks to tie clinical information from electronic medical records to a survey so correlations between mental health concerns, socioeconomic concerns, and clinical data can be made. "The goal is to glean information that will help better inform the care and support services provided to older adults with HIV," says Siegler. Meanwhile, Erlandson cites a study that found "both moderate- and high-intensity exercise resulted in significant improvements in function among both people with and without HIV, and higher-intensity exercise led to greater improvements in strength, particularly in those living with HIV." Siegler also notes, "Frailty likely appears earlier in HIV-infected people than it does in their uninfected counterparts, and it is a predictor of morbidity and mortality. She says "frailty ... by definition, it is a marker of vulnerability, and it is difficult to reverse once it has been established. Keeping socially engaged and physically active may help forestall frailty even in the setting of other chronic problems."