Life expectancy in HIV-positive persons in Switzerland: matched comparison with general population.

OBJECTIVES

To estimate life expectancy (LE) over 25 years in HIV-positive people and compare their LE with recent estimates for the general population, by education.

METHODS

Patients aged 20 years or older enrolled in the Swiss HIV Cohort Study 1988-2013 were eligible. Patients alive in 2001 were matched to up to 100 Swiss residents, by sex, year of birth, and education. LE at age 20 was estimated for monotherapy (1988-1991), dual therapy (1992-1995), early combination antiretroviral therapy (cART, 1996-1998), later cART (1999-2005) and recent cART (2006-2013) eras. Parametric survival regression was used to model life expectancy.

RESULTS

16,532 HIV-positive patients and 927,583 residents were included. LE at age 20 of HIV-positive individuals increased from 11.8 years (95% CI 11.2-12.5) in the monotherapy era to 54.9 years (95% CI 51.2-59.6) in the most recent cART era. Differences in LE across educational levels emerged with cART. In the most recent cART period, LE at age 20 years was 52.7 years (95% CI 46.4-60.1) with compulsory education, compared to 60.0 years (53.4-67.8) with higher education. Estimates for the general population were 61.5 years and 65.6 years, respectively. Male sex, smoking, injection drug use and low CD4 counts at enrolment were also independently associated with mortality.

CONCLUSION

In Switzerland educational inequalities in LE were larger among HIV-infected persons than in the general population. Highly educated HIV-positive people have an estimated LE similar to Swiss residents with compulsory education. Earlier start of cART and effective smoking cessation programs could improve HIV-positive LE further and reduce inequalities.