Antiretroviral treatment change among HIV, hepatitis B virus and hepatitis C virus co-infected patients in the Australian HIV Observational Database.

OBJECTIVES

To assess the impact of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) on rates of change of antiretroviral treatment among patients co-infected with hepatitis B virus (HBV) and/or hepatitis C virus (HCV) in the Australian HIV Observational Database (AHOD).

METHODS

Analysis was based on 805 of the 2218 patients recruited to the AHOD by March 2003, who had commenced HAART after 1 January 1997, who had recorded test results for HBV surface antigen and anti-HCV antibody, and who had follow-up of more than 3 months. The effect of hepatitis co-infection on the rate of antiretroviral treatment change after commencing HAART was assessed using a random-effect Poisson regression model.

RESULTS

Among those included in the analyses, the prevalences of HBV and HCV were 4.8% and 12.8%, respectively. The overall rate of combination antiretroviral treatment change was 0.74 combinations per year. Factors independently associated with an increased rate of change of combination antiretroviral treatment were: prior AIDS-defining illness; prior exposure to double combination antiretroviral therapy; and antiretroviral treatment class. Co-infection with HBV and/or HCV was not found to be significantly associated with the rate of combination antiretroviral treatment change.

CONCLUSIONS

While both HBV and HCV co-infections are relatively common in the AHOD, they do not appear to be serious impediments to the treatment of HIV-infected patients.