Page 25 - Delaware Medical Journal - March/April 2020

RESEARCH
TABLE 2. Demographics and Framingham risk score of HIV-positive men and women
Variable
HIV-positive women (N=24)
HIV-positive men (N=62)
P value
*Age in years, mean (SD)
39.83 (7.93)
37.71 (8.26)
0.98
Race, n (%)
Caucasian
1 (4.2)
11 (17.7)
African American
20 (83.3)
34 (54.8)
0.02
Hispanic
2 (8.3)
17 (27.4)
Other
1 (4.2)
0 (0.0)
Married, n (%)
8 (33.3)
9 (14.5)
0.20
Family history of CVD, n (%)
3 (12.5)
7 (11.3)
0.88
*Systolic BP, mm Hg, mean (S.D.)
111.9 (28.5)
114.6 (18.5)
0.03
Diastolic BP, mm Hg, mean (S.D.)
67.1 (19.4)
70.7 (13.9)
0.07
*On medicines for BP, n (%)
6 (25.0)
5 (8.1)
0.04
*Current smokers, n (%)
0 (0.0)
3 (4.3)
0.27
*Diabetes Mellitus, n (%)
3 (12.5)
5 (8.1)
0.53
Hemoglobin A1c, mean (S.D.)
5.77 (1.77)
5.40 (0.88)
0.04
*HDL cholesterol, mg/dl, mean (S.D.)
43.8 (10.2)
42.9 (13.7)
0.40
*Total cholesterol, mg/dl, mean (S.D.)
185.7 (45.5)
184.9 (47.0)
0.53
C-Reactive protein, mg/dl, mean (S.D.)
0.41 (0.36)
0.35 (0.43)
0.91
Framingham 10-year risk score, mean (S.D.)
2.55 (3.20)
3.66 (4.36)
0.55
HIV=Human Immunodeficiency Virus SD = Standard deviation
BP = Blood pressure
CVD = Cardiovascular disease
* Components of the Framingham risk score analysis
human immunodeficiency virus
(HIV) infection.2,3,4 HIV infection is described as an independent risk factor by itself for developing cardiovascular diseases.3,4
A multitude of gender-specific
factors puts women at a lower risk of developing CAD and other metabolic diseases as compared to men.2,3 Owing to this, the current guidelines offer a low threshold to control the traditional risk factors in women as compared to men.3 However, HIV-positive women have a higher risk of developing CAD even after adjusting for demographic factors, blood pressure, diabetes,
smoking, and drug abuse.4 So HIV- positive women need an aggressive control of traditional risk factors as compared to the general female population.
The objective of our study is to compare the current cardiovascular risk from the traditional risk factors (Framingham risk score) in HIV- positive women and men.5
METHODS
This is a cross-sectional study using the National Health and Nutrition
Examination Survey (NHANES) datasets from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).6
The sample was divided into two groups: HIV-positive men and HIV-positive women. The 10-year Framingham risk score for developing CAD was calculated using the online cardiovascular risk calculator provided by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) and compared between the two groups (Table 1).5
The intent to reduce the cardiovascular risk through greater physical activity, smoking cessation, weight loss, and diet modification was compared. The
Del Med J | March/April 2020 | Vol. 92 | No. 2
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