Musculoskeletal and rheumatological disorders in HIV infection: Experience in a tertiary referral center.

BACKGROUND

Musculoskeletal involvement in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infected patients are important disease manifestations, responsible for increased morbidity and also decreased quality of life.

OBJECTIVES

To study the spectrum of different musculoskeletal involvement in HIV infected patients and its impact on quality of life.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

Three hundred (n = 300) HIV-1 reactive patients were evaluated in respect to different musculoskeletal involvement including the quality of life from January 2010 to January 2011.

RESULTS

Male to female ratio was 11:1 with a mean age of 35 (±6.4) years and mean duration of the disease was 3 (±1.54) years. Majority of cases were truck drivers, motel workers, and jewelry workers. Musculoskeletal disorders were observed in a total of 190 cases (63.33%). The spectrum of musculoskeletal involvement was: Body ache in 140 (46.7%), arthralgia in 80 (26.7%), mechanical low back pain in 25 (8.3%), osteoporosis in 20 (6.7%), painful articular syndrome in 10 (3.3%), hypertrophic osteoarthropathy in two (0.7%), pyomyositis in two (0.7%), osteomyelitis in one (0.3%), and avascular bone necrosis in one patient (0.3%). Rheumatologic disorders associated were: Reactive arthritis in seven (2.3%), fibromyalgia in four (1.3%), septic arthritis in three (1%), acute gout in three (1%), spondyloarthropathy in two (0.7%), rheumatoid arthritis in two (0.7%), dermatomyositis in one (0.3%), and systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) in one patient (0.3%). But HIV associated arthritis and diffuse infiltrative lymphocytosis syndrome (DILS) were not detected. Most of the patients had decreased quality of life.

CONCLUSIONS

Musculoskeletal involvement was common in HIV patients causing increased morbidity, so early detection and timely intervention is essential to improve quality of life.