Inpatient admissions and outpatient visits in persons with and without HIV infection in Denmark, 1995-2007

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OBJECTIVE: HAART has changed morbidity and mortality in the HIV-infected population dramatically. We aimed to estimate the use of healthcare facilities in HIV-infected patients after the introduction of HAART. DESIGN: This is a prospective nationwide cohort study. METHODS: We identified all Danish HIV patients and a cohort of population controls matched on sex and date of birth. The study period was 1995-2007. We calculated inpatient admission rates and outpatient visit rates stratified by medical speciality and International Classification of Diseases-10 diagnose categories. Relative risks were computed. RESULTS: Four thousand, seven hundred and sixty HIV-infected patients and 23 800 population controls were identified. Overall inpatient admission rates [95% confidence interval (CI)] for HIV-infected patients decreased from 90 (88-93) to 57 (56-58)/100 person-years in the study period. The risk ratio (95% CI) fell from 6.2 (6.0-6.5) to 3.1 (3.1-3.2) predominantly due to reduced inpatient admission rates to departments of infectious diseases. The overall outpatient visit rates (95% CI) for the HIV-infected patients increased from 744 (737-751) to 877 (872-882)/100 person-years, mainly due to visits at departments other than infectious diseases. A marked increase in outpatient visit rates (95% CI) in the background population decreased the risk ratio from 16.5 (16.2-16.8) to 7.1 (7.0-7.2). We observed a decreased relative risk of inpatient admissions and outpatient visits due to cancers and a small increase in relative risk due to cardiovascular disease. CONCLUSION: After the introduction of HAART, the inpatient treatment of HIV-infected patients has decreased, especially at departments of infectious disease. In contrast, this population's use of outpatient facilities has increased in noninfectious disease specialities.
Original languageEnglish
JournalAIDS
Volume24
Issue number3
Pages (from-to)457-61
Number of pages5
ISSN0269-9370
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 28 Jan 2010

ID: 21456784