Polypharmacy and other factors may contribute to drug (medication) burden in an HIV-positive adult.
Patient selection: HIV-positive adult
Criteria for polypharmacy (Calcagno et al): >= 5 non-antiretroviral non-antitubercular drugs
Criteria for severe polypharmacy: >= 10 non-antiretroviral non-antitubercular drugs
Risk factors for polypharmacy:
(1) older age (> 65 years)
(2) female sex
(3) drugs for metabolic syndrome, including type 2 diabetes
(4) other comorbidities (diuretics, depression, hypertension, CKD, etc)
(5) chronic pain
(6) receiving anti-retroviral therapy
(7) receiving antituberculous medications
(8) opportunistic infection prophylaxis
Risk factors for drug burden:
(1) frailty
(2) adverse drug effects including drug-drug interactions
(3) complexity of drug regimens
