Pain in people living with HIV and its association with healthcare resource use, mental health and functional status
Pain in people living with HIV and its association with healthcare resource use, mental health and functional status
Publication
AIDS 2018 (in press).
Lay summary
There have been several reports that people with HIV tend to have high levels of pain, although it is not known whether this pain is more common than in the general population. We found that a high proportion (60-70%) of all POPPY participants had experienced some pain in the last month, with 40-50% having pain at the time of the baseline visit. Although pain was common in all three of the POPPY sub-cohorts (older people with HIV, younger people with HIV and people without HIV), after taking other factors into account, older people with HIV were somewhat more likely to report pain compared to the other groups. Pain had negative consequences: it was associated with missed days of work or study, doctor appointments, more symptoms of depression and poorer quality of life. Our findings highlight the need to investigate pain in people with HIV and to find effective ways for people with HIV to manage their pain.
Read more about ou ongoing research on pain in the POPPY study here...