Age and CD4 count are dominant factors in the prediction of anaemia in Javanese HIV patients.

Background And Objectives: Anaemia in Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) infection is multifactorial and an increasingly important variable to consider in the management. This is the first study of anaemia in HIV infection in the Javanese population, which constitutes the largest ethnic group in Indonesia. The aim of this study was to determine the factors which are associated with anaemia in Javanese patients with HIV infection.

Methods And Study Design: This study applied a cross-sectional design involving HIV patients in Dr Kariadi Hospital and Balai Kesehatan Paru Masyarakat (BKPM), Semarang, Indonesia. The characteristic data of the subjects were age, gender, BMI, duration of therapy and antiretroviral (ARV) drugs. Haematology tests were conducted using flow cytometry.

Results: The prevalence of anaemia in HIV-infected patients was 21 (38.88%). Macrocytic anemia was found as a majority (12; 57.1 %) in anaemic patients. The risk factors which were found to be associated with increase of anaemia were white blood cells (WBC) <5.0 x 109/L and CD4 >200.0 cells/μL (p<0.05). A correlation between anaemia and age (r=0.49, p<0.01), duration of treatment (r=0.35, p<0.01), CD4 count (r=-0.42, p<0.01), total bilirubin (r=-0.28, p<0.05), and unconjugated bilirubin (r=-0.29, p<0.05) was identified. Age (p=0.023) and CD4 count (p=0.07) were the dominant factors in the multivariate analysis.

Conclusion: Age and CD4 count are the dominant factors in determining of anaemia in Javanese patients with HIV infection.