7th Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections San Francisco, CA - January 30 -February 4, 2000

Conf Retroviruses Opportunistic Infect 2000 Jan 30-Feb 2; 7:80 (abstract no. 25)

J. Justman¹, E. Smit², A. Danoff¹, R. Li², M. Bacon³, B. Heikes⁴, J. Dehovitz⁵, K. Mulligan⁶, And M. Cohen⁷
Bronx-Lebanon Hosp. Ctr., NY.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the association between antiretroviral therapy (ART) use and body habitus, using both objective and subjective measures, among 1471 nonpregnant women enrolled in the WIHS, a multicenter cohort study.

METHODS: Height, weight, and upper arm, breast, waist and hip circumferences were measured. Physical appearance and presence of dorsocervical fat pad were also determined. A questionnaire assessed self-reported body changes. ART was classified as highly active (HAART), mono/combination (M/C) or no treatment (NTx).

RESULTS:

1. Mean body mass index (BMI) and arm, breast, waist and hip circumference measurements are smaller among the HIV-infected than -uninfected women (p<0.001). ART category is not associated with smaller or larger BMI or circumference mearements.
2. Dorsocervical fat pads, as noted by an examiner, occurred more frequently among HIV-infected than -uninfected women (14% v. 8.8%, p=0.007). ART category was associated with the presence of a fat pad (10% NTx, 14% M/C and 17% HAART, p=0.004). Obesity (BMI>30) was also associated with the presence of an examiner-reported fat pad (p<0.0001). Only 20% of examiner-reported f pads were also self-reported.
3. HIV-infected women reported both increased and decreased abdomen sizes more often than HIV-uninfected women (p<0.001). The frequency of any self-reported change in abdomen size is associated with ART group (35% NTx v. 43% HAART, p=0.001). Any unintentional body change is also associated with HIV infection (p=0.0001) and ART group (p<0.0001).

CONCLUSION: Body changes, including dorsocervical fat pads, were reported among both HIV-uninfected and HIV-infected women, and among women in all ART categories. Examiner-reported fat pads were more prevalent among obese women. Subjective assessments of body habitus changes by either self-report or non-blinded clinician are associated with ART, however, these findings are not supported by objective data. Although this discrepancy highlights the need to interpret ART-associated changes in body habitus with caution, these changes may be occurring in a subset of women on ART.

2000-01-30
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