Rheumatic Manifestations in HIV Positive Patients at Soetomo Hospital Indonesia

Abstract

Background: Rheumatic disease is one of the comorbidities that can occur in patients with Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) infection. The prevalence and the spectrum of the diseases are varied in some previous studies. The emergence of rheumatologic diseases can increase morbidity and decrease the quality of life of HIV-positive patients. Purpose: This study aims to determine the variety of rheumatologic diseases that occur in HIV positive patients and the characteristics of the patients. Methods: This study is a descriptive study. Data obtained from the medical record of patients include the data sociodemographic, CD4 cell count, and history of antiretroviral drugs as well as the data from patient interviews. This study was carried out on 130 patients with HIV who were controlled at Dr. Soetomo Hospital, Surabaya, in the period of June 2019. Results: HIV-positive Patients were dominated by men (66 ,9%) with a mean age of 37.36 (±9.524). The patient's average CD4 cell count was 322.95 cells/mm3 (±145,523) and the most widely used drug combinations were tenofovir, lamivudine, and efavirenz (66.2%). Rheumatic manifestations were obtained in 25 of 130 (19.2%) with joint pain in 13 (10.0 %) cases, myalgia 4 (3.1%) cases, systemic lupus erythematosus 4 (3.1%) cases, osteomyelitis 2 (1.5%) cases, osteoarthritis 1 (0.8%) case, and spondylarthropathy 1 (0.8%) case. Conclusion: Several types of rheumatic manifestations were found in HIV-positive patients with arthralgia being the most common. Rheumatic manifestations commonly occur in adult men with low CD4 cell counts. Early detection and appropriate therapy related to rheumatic manifestations of HIV infection are expected to improve the patient's quality of life.