Page 24 - Delaware Medical Journal - March/April 2020

A Comparative Analysis of the 10-year Cardiovascular Risk in HIV-Positive Men and Women
Srikrishna Varun Malayala, MD, MPH, FHM, FACP; Ambreen Raza, MD
BACKGROUND: Our study intends to compare the current cardiovascular risk in HIV-positive women and men using a nationwide sample.
METHODS: This study is a cross-sectional study using the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) datasets from 1999 to 2014. The 10-year Framingham risk score for developing coronary artery disease (CAD) was calculated.
RESULTS: There were a total of 86 people — 24 women (27.9%) and 62 men (72.1%) — positive for HIV in this sample. The mean Framingham risk score of HIV-negative women was significantly less than the HIV-negative men, p<0.05. However, in the HIV-positive women, there was no statistically significant difference as compared to the HIV-positive men, p=0.55.
DISCUSSION: Our study confirms that the risk of developing CAD in our HIV-positive women is higher from the traditional risk factors itself and they need aggressive control of the risk factors.
TABLE 1. Framingham risk score for estimation of 10-year cardiovascular disease risk
Age:
Years
Gender:
Female Male
Total cholesterol:
mmol/L
HDL cholesterol:
mmol/L
Smoker:
Yes No
Diabetes:
Yes No
Systolic blood pressure:
mm Hg
Is the patient being treated for high blood pressure?
Yes No
BACKGROUND
As of 2016, the National Center for Health Statistics reports that coronary artery disease (CAD) remains the leading cause of death in the United States.1 Male gender, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, cigarette smoking, lack of physical activity, and genetic disorders — or the so-called “traditional risk factors” — are still the major causes for developing CAD.2 Lately, non-traditional risk factors are being reported for developing CAD, such as renal disease, autoimmune
and inflammatory diseases, and
72 Del Med J | March/April 2020 | Vol. 92 | No. 2
Abstract