HIV/HBV co-infection and rate of antiretroviral treatment change after highly active antiretroviral treatment initiation in a cohort of HIV-infected patients in Greece.

The current study investigated the impact of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)/hepatitis B virus (HBV) co-infection on the rate of change of antiretroviral drugs after the initiation of highly active antiretroviral treatment (HAART). The data on 1425 HIV-positive patients with recorded serology for hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) were retrospectively analysed. The estimated rate of treatment change was slightly higher in the HBsAg-positive group (0.57 per year) compared with the HBsAg-negative group (0.50 per year). Although this difference was insignificant in multivariable modelling, the confidence intervals of the estimates barely included unity. Antiretroviral drug family, calendar period, prior exposure to antiretrovirals and the diagnosis of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome were independently associated with the number of drug alterations. A slight impact of co-infection on the frequency of treatment change after the beginning of HAART cannot be excluded. However, the paucity of studies on this issue necessitates the conduct of further research.