Viral Load Suppression in People Living with HIV Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Brooklyn, New York.

Consistent care is crucial for the health maintenance of people living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) (PWH). The coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) epidemic disrupted patient care in New York City (NYC), yet few studies investigated the association between COVID-19 and viral load suppression in PWH in NYC. This study aims to assess how the COVID-19 pandemic impacted HIV viral load and CD4 + T-cell counts in PWH.

Midlife body mass index, central adiposity and neuropsychological performance over 10 years in women living with and without HIV.

Background And Objective: Observations of overweight and obesity in association with neuropsychological performance (NP) vary over the adult life course depending on baseline levels, biological sex, age, race, temporality of measurements, and other factors. Therefore, similar published analyses across cohorts are inconsistent. In our sample of women living with HIV (WLWH) and women without HIV (WWOH), we conducted comparable analyses as those published in men with and without HIV.

Long-term antiretroviral therapy mitigates mortality and morbidity independent of HIV tropism: 18 years follow-up in a women's cohort.

Objective: CXCR4 (X4)-tropic HIV-1 was found previously to herald CD4 + cell depletion and disease progression in individuals who were antiretroviral-naive or took combination antiretroviral therapy (cART) for less than 5 years. We updated this finding by investigating whether the deleterious effect of X4-tropic strains is mitigated by long-term cART.

Design: We examined morbidity and mortality in relation to HIV-1 tropism and cART in 529 participants followed up to 18 years in the Women's Interagency HIV Study; 91% were women of color.

Polypharmacy Is Associated With Falls in Women With and Without HIV.

Background: Aging in people with HIV is associated with increased risk of developing synergistic conditions such as neurocognitive impairment, polypharmacy, and falls. We assessed associations between polypharmacy (use of 5 or more non-ART medications), use of neurocognitive adverse effects (NCAE) medications, and odds of falls in women with HIV (WWH) and without HIV (HIV-).

Methods: Self-reported falls and medication use data were contributed semiannually by 1872 (1315 WWH and 557 HIV-) Women's Interagency HIV Study participants between 2014 and 2016.

Body Mass Index and Leptin Are Related to Cognitive Performance Over 10 Years in Women With and Without HIV Infection.

Context: It is not yet understood whether people living with HIV infection have an increased risk of Alzheimers Disease and Related Dementias due to enhanced survivorship with highly effective antiretroviral therapies and/or increasing adiposity with aging.

Objective: This work aimed to determine whether body mass index (BMI) and leptin were longitudinally associated over 10 years with neuropsychological performance (NP) among middle-aged women with HIV (WWH) vs without HIV.

Methods: Women's Interagency HIV Study (WIHS) participants (301 WWH, 113 women without HIV from Brooklyn, New York City, and Chicago had baseline and 10-year BMI and fasting plasma leptin levels using commercial enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ng/mL); and demographically adjusted NP T scores (attention/working memory, executive function [EF], processing speed, memory, learning, verbal fluency, motor function, global) at 10-year follow-up.

Characteristics of the MACS/WIHS Combined Cohort Study: Opportunities for Research on Aging With HIV in the Longest US Observational Study of HIV.

In 2019, the National Institutes of Health combined the Multicenter AIDS Cohort Study (MACS) and the Women's Interagency HIV Study (WIHS) into the MACS/WIHS Combined Cohort Study (MWCCS). In this paper, participants who made a study visit during October 2018-September 2019 (targeted for MWCCS enrollment) are described by human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) serostatus and compared with people living with HIV (PLWH) in the United States. Participants include 2,115 women and 1,901 men with a median age of 56 years (interquartile range, 48-63); 62% are PLWH.

The positive affect, promoting Positive Engagement, and Adherence for Life (APPEAL) feasibility trial: Design and rationale.

Objective: To describe development of the Positive Affect, Promoting Positive Engagement, and Adherence for Life (APPEAL) program.

Method: APPEAL is intended to increase HIV medication adherence through promotion of positive affect, and was developed through an iterative process involving 6 focus groups (N = 34) that elicited feedback on intervention content, followed by an individually administered prepilot of the entire intervention (N = 7).

Results: Participants provided feedback on important potential moderator variables, including depression, on mode of intervention administration, and on anticipated barriers and benefits to participation.

Women from afar: an observational study of demographic characteristics and mortality among foreign-born women living with HIV in the Women's Interagency HIV Study (WIHS) in the United States 1994-2016.

Introduction: Foreign-born persons comprise ~13% of the US population. Immigrants, especially women, often face a complex set of social and structural factors that negatively impact health outcomes including greater risk of HIV infection. We described socio-demographic, clinical and immunological characteristics and AIDs and non-AIDS death among foreign-born women living with HIV (FBWLWH) participating in the US Women's Interagency HIV Study (WIHS) in the US from 1994 to 2016.

Impaired Cognition Predicts Falls Among Women With and Without HIV Infection.

Objective: To determine whether domain-specific neurocognitive (NC) impairments predict falls in HIV+ compared with HIV- women.

Design: Cross-sectional data analysis from 825 HIV+ and 392 HIV- women in the Women's Interagency HIV Study with NC testing within 2 years before falls surveys.

Methods: NC impairment (T score <40) was assessed in 7 domains: executive function, psychomotor speed, attention, learning, memory, fluency, and fine motor function.

Loss of Preexisting Immunological Memory Among Human Immunodeficiency Virus-Infected Women Despite Immune Reconstitution With Antiretroviral Therapy.

Background: It is unclear whether human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection results in permanent loss of T-cell memory or if it affects preexisting antibodies to childhood vaccinations or infections.

Methods: We conducted a matched cohort study involving 50 pairs of HIV-infected and HIV-uninfected women. Total memory T-cell responses were measured after anti-CD3 or vaccinia virus (VV) stimulation to measure T cells elicited after childhood smallpox vaccination.

History of Incarceration Among Women with HIV: Impact on Prognosis and Mortality.

To identify factors associated with incarceration among women and examine the relationship between incarceration and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-related outcomes. We analyzed longitudinal data from 3324 women (2372 with HIV and 952 uninfected) from 2007 to 2016 in the Women's Interagency HIV Study, a U.S.

The effect of unstable housing on HIV treatment biomarkers: An instrumental variables approach.

Unstable housing, including homelessness, is a public policy concern for all populations, and more critically for people with a serious health condition such as HIV. We measure the effect of unstable housing on HIV treatment biomarkers: viral suppression (viral load < 200 HIV RNA copies per ml) and adequate CD4 T-cell count (CD4>350 cells per μl). We use panel data (1995-2015) from 3082 participants of the Women's Interagency HIV Study (WIHS) sites in Bronx and Brooklyn (NY), Chicago (IL), Los Angeles and San Francisco (CA), and Washington (DC).

Longitudinal study of falls among HIV-infected and uninfected women: the role of cognition.

Background: Although fracture rates are higher in HIV+ than HIV- women, whether HIV infection increases risk of falls is unclear. We determined the longitudinal occurrence and risk factors for falls in the Women's Interagency HIV Study (WIHS), and explored associations with cognitive complaints.

Methods: Recent (prior 6 months) self-reported falls were collected in 1,816 (1,250 HIV+; 566 HIV-) women over 24 months.

Ghrelin, Amylin, Gastric Inhibitory Peptide and Cognition in Middle-Aged HIV-Infected and Uninfected Women: The Women's Interagency HIV Study.

Objective: To explore the gut-brain axis by examining gut hormone levels and cognitive test scores in women with (HIV+) and without (HIV-) HIV infection.

Design/methods: Participants included 356 women (248 HIV+, 108 at risk HIV-) in the Brooklyn Women's Interagency HIV Study (WIHS) with measured levels of ghrelin, amylin and gastric inhibitory peptide (GIP), also known as glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide. Cross-sectional analyses using linear regression models estimated the relationship between gut hormones and Trails A, Trails B, Stroop interference time, Stroop word recall, Stroop color naming and reading, and Symbol Digit Modalities Test (SDMT) with consideration for age, HIV infection status, Wide Range Achievement Test score (WRAT), CD4 count, insulin resistance, drug use, and race/ethnicity.

Predicting death over 8 years in a prospective cohort of HIV-infected women: the Women's Interagency HIV Study.

Objectives: Predicting mortality in middle-aged HIV-infected (HIV+) women on antiretroviral therapies (ART) is important for understanding the impact of HIV infection. Several health indices have been used to predict mortality in women with HIV infection. We evaluated: (1) an HIV biological index, Veterans Aging Cohort Study (VACS); (2) a physical index, Fried Frailty Index (FFI); and (3) a mental health index, Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression (CES-D).

Leptin, Adiponectin and Cognition in Middle-aged HIV-infected and Uninfected Women. The Brooklyn Women's Interagency HIV Study.

Context: Case-control study of women with and without HIV infection.

Objective: To explore the association of cognition and the adipokines, leptin and adiponectin (total; high molecular weight, HMW), in women with (HIV+) and without HIV (HIV-) infection.

Design: Cross-sectional analyses of adipokines and cognition using linear regression models of log-transformed adipokines, and Trails A, Trails B, Stroop interference time, Stroop word recall, Stroop color naming and reading, and Symbol Digit Modalities Test (SDMT) with consideration for age, HIV infection status, education, CD4 count, diabetes, body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC) and race/ethnicity.

Falls among middle-aged women in the Women's Interagency HIV Study.

Background: To determine the frequency and risk factors for falls among middle-aged HIV+ and HIV- women in the Women's Interagency HIV Study (WIHS).

Methods: We quantified self-report of any and multiple (≥2) falls in the prior 6 months among 1,412 HIV+ and 650 HIV- women with mean age 48 years. Logistic regression was used to evaluate associations of demographics, behavioural factors, comorbid conditions and medications with odds of any fall (versus none) and multiple falls (versus ≤1 fall).

"The Pleasure Is Better as I've Gotten Older": Sexual Health, Sexuality, and Sexual Risk Behaviors Among Older Women Living With HIV.

There is limited research examining the sexual health and well-being of older women living with HIV (OWLH). Most studies focus on sexual dysfunction, leaving aside the richer context of sexuality and sexual health, including the effect of age-related psychosocial and interpersonal changes on sexual health behaviors. Guided by the integrative biopsychosocial model and the sexual health model, this study explored the importance of sex and sexuality among OWLH to identify their sexual health and HIV prevention needs for program planning.

Association of the Fractal Dimension of Retinal Arteries and Veins with Quantitative Brain MRI Measures in HIV-Infected and Uninfected Women.

Objective: The fractal dimension of retinal arteries and veins is a measure of the complexity of the vascular tree. We hypothesized that retinal fractal dimension would be associated with brain volume and white matter integrity in HIV-infected women.

Design: Nested case-control within longitudinal cohort study.

Menstrual cycle phase and single tablet antiretroviral medication adherence in women with HIV.

Suboptimal adherence to antiretroviral (ARV) therapy among HIV-infected individuals is associated with increased risk of progression to AIDS and the development of HIV resistance to ARV medications. To examine whether the luteal phase of the menstrual cycle is independently associated with suboptimal adherence to single tablet regimen (STR) ARV medication, data were analyzed from a multicenter cohort study of HIV-infected women who reported regular menstrual cycles and were taking an STR. In a cross-sectional analysis, suboptimal adherence to an STR among women in their follicular phase was compared with suboptimal adherence among women in their luteal phase.

Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene at the World's Largest Mass Gathering.

The 2013 Kumbh Mela, a Hindu religious festival and the largest human gathering on earth, drew an estimated 120 million pilgrims to bathe at the holy confluence of the Ganga (Ganges) and Yamuna rivers. To accommodate the massive numbers, the Indian government constructed a temporary city on the flood plains of the two rivers and provided it with roads, electricity, water and sanitation facilities, police stations, and a tiered healthcare system. This phenomenal operation and its impacts have gone largely undocumented.

Time above 1500 copies: a viral load measure for assessing transmission risk of HIV-positive patients in care.

Objective: We examined HIV transmission potential of patients in care by analyzing the amount of person-time spent above a viral load threshold that increases risk for transmission.

Design: Observational cohort and supplemental data.

Methods: The cohort included HIV patients who received care at six HIV clinics in the United States, from 1 April 2009 to 31 March 2013, and had two or more viral load tests during this interval.

Longitudinal Trends in Sexual Behaviors with Advancing Age and Menopause Among Women With and Without HIV-1 Infection.

We assessed changes in self-reported sexual activity (SA) over 13 years among HIV-infected and uninfected women. The impact of aging and menopause on SA and unprotected anal or vaginal intercourse (UAVI) was examined among women in the Women's Interagency HIV Study (WIHS), stratifying by HIV status and detectable viral load among HIV-infected women. Generalized mixed linear models were fitted for each outcome, adjusted for relevant covariates.

Pulmonary symptoms and diagnoses are associated with HIV in the MACS and WIHS cohorts.

Background: Several lung diseases are increasingly recognized as comorbidities with HIV; however, few data exist related to the spectrum of respiratory symptoms, diagnostic testing, and diagnoses in the current HIV era. The objective of the study is to determine the impact of HIV on prevalence and incidence of respiratory disease in the current era of effective antiretroviral treatment.

Methods: A pulmonary-specific questionnaire was administered yearly for three years to participants in the Multicenter AIDS Cohort Study (MACS) and Women's Interagency HIV Study (WIHS).