A majority of people living with HIV in New York state are over the age of 50—and many are newly diagnosed, according to a recent analysis of state data. People diagnosed with HIV when they are ≥50 years old were also more likely than their younger counterparts to be female, to have progressed to AIDS, and to have acquired the virus through heterosexual sex.
About This Study
“Aging with HIV – An Epidemiological Profile of Persons with Diagnosed HIV Aged 50 Years and Older in New York State, 2012-2021” was published online on July 18, 2024, in Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes. The lead author is Zhengyan Wang, Ph.D., of the AIDS Institute at the New York State Department of Health in Albany.
Key Research Findings
This analysis of New York state HIV Registry data between 2012 and 2021 compared the characteristics of older (age ≥50 years) and younger (age <50 years) people with HIV.
By the end of 2021, 57% of people living with HIV in New York state were ≥50 years old, with 92% of that group virally suppressed compared to 87% of people living with HIV who were <50 years old. That year, 18% of the 2,123 new HIV diagnoses were among older persons; of that group, 36% of older and 17% of younger people had stage 3 HIV disease (AIDS) on diagnosis. Women comprised 32% of older people newly diagnosed with HIV in 2021, compared to 15% of the younger group. People ≥50 years who learned that they were living with HIV were less likely to be men who have sex with men than people below 50 (23% vs. 60%).
Among people diagnosed at age 50 or older, deaths attributed to HIV dropped (from 35% of deaths in 2012 to 23% in 2019) and deaths attributed to cardiovascular disease increased (from 15% to 25%), while the median age at death rose. From 2020 on, COVID-19 affected death rates (20% of deaths in 2020 and 9% in 2021), and more people died from overdoses than before the pandemic.
Discussion Highlights and Implications for Practice
To reduce HIV acquisitions in this population, health care providers need to be trained to discuss sexual health with their older patients, the researchers emphasized. Once diagnosed, HIV care providers must pay attention to comorbidities among older people. Targeted HIV testing campaigns should help to prevent late diagnoses and specific social support may help older people live with the virus.
By Barbara Jungwirth
Source : TheBodyPro
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