Prevalence and incidence of pre-diabetes and diabetes mellitus among people living with HIV in Ghana: Evidence from the EVERLAST Study.

BACKGROUND

Available data from high-income countries suggest that people living with HIV (PLWH) have a four-fold higher risk of diabetes compared with HIV-negative people. In sub-Saharan Africa, with 80% of the global burden of HIV, there is a relative paucity of data on the burden and determinants of prevalent and incident dysglycaemia.

OBJECTIVES

To assess the prevalence and incidence of pre-diabetes (pre-DM) and overt diabetes mellitus (DM) among PLWH in a Ghanaian tertiary medical centre.

METHODS

We first performed a cross-sectional comparative analytical study involving PLWH on combination antiretroviral therapy (cART) (n = 258), PLWH not on cART (n = 244) and HIV-negative individuals (n = 242). Diabetes, pre-DM and normoglycaemia were defined as haemoglobin A1C (HBA1c) > 6.5%, in the range 5.7-6.4% and < 5.7% respectively. We then prospectively followed up the PLWH for 12 months to assess rates of new-onset DM, and composite of new-onset DM and pre-DM. Multivariate logistic regression models were fitted to identify factors associated with dysglycaemia among PLWH.

RESULTS

The frequencies of DM among PLWH on cART, PLWH not on cART and HIV-negative individuals were 7.4%, 6.6% and 7.4% (P = 0.91), respectively, while pre-DM prevalence rates were 13.2%, 27.9% and 27.3%, respectively (P < 0.0001). Prevalent DM was independently associated with increasing age [adjusted odds ratio (95% confidence interval) (aOR, 95% CI) = 1.82 (1.20-2.77) for each 10-year rise], male sex [aOR = 2.64 (1.20-5.80)] and log(triglyceride/HDL cholesterol) [aOR = 8.54 (2.53-28.83)]. Prevalent pre-DM was independently associated with being on cART [aOR (95% CI) = 0.35 (0.18-0.69)]. There were a total of 12 cases of incident DM over 359.25 person-years, giving 33.4/1000 person-years of follow-up (PYFU) (95% CI: 18.1-56.8/1000), and an rate of incident pre-DM of 212.7/1000 PYFU (95 CI: 164.5-270.9/1000). The two independent factors associated with new-onset DM were having pre-DM at enrolment [aOR = 6.27 (1.89-20.81)] and being established on cART at enrolment [aOR = 12.02 (1.48-97.70)].

CONCLUSIONS

Incidence rates of pre-DM and overt DM among Ghanaian PLWH on cART ranks among the highest in the literature. There is an urgent need for routine screening and a multidisciplinary approach to cardiovascular disease risk reduction among PLWH to reduce morbidity and mortality from the detrimental effects of dysglycaemia.