Risk Factors for Weight Loss in Patients with HIV Disease

 

Criteria for weight loss: >= 5% of usual weight (based on telephone interviews done with median interval of 36 days)

 

Risk factors increasing the risk of acute weight loss:

(1) oral symptoms (oral sores, oral pain, thrush, other)

(2) swallowing difficulties

 

Factors reducing the risk for acute weight loss:

(1) BOTH receiving highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) AND no diarrhea

(2) being a man who has sex with men

(3) serum albumin level > 4 g/dL (see comment)

 

where:

• The reporting of how albumin levels impact weight loss makes usage difficult. The mean initial serum albumin levels in the patients was 4.2 g/dL +/- 0.4. The relative risk was 0.7 for each 1 g/dL increase in serum albumin. A serum albumin < 3.2 g/dL is in the range of hypoalbuminemia, which is a measure of malnutrition. The effect of a low albumin might have been easier to use as an algorithm.