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Suboptimal immune recovery and associated factors among people living with HIV/AIDS on second‐line antiretroviral therapy in central China: A retrospective cohort study

The introduction and scale‐up of antiretroviral therapy (ART) have contributed to significantly improved patients with acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) quality of life and prolongs their survival. This has occurred by suppressing viral replication and recovering the CD4 cell count. However, some patients do not normalize their CD4 cell count, despite suppression of the viral load (VL). Patients with suboptimal immune recovery (SIR), as defined by a VL < 400 copies/ml with a CD4 cell count of<200 cells/μl, after ART initiation, exhibit severe immune dysfunction and have a higher risk of AIDS and non‐AIDS events. In recent years, People living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) with first‐line ART failure began to gradually switch to second‐line ART. This study aimed to examine the prevalence and factors affecting SIR among PLWHA who switch to second‐line ART in rural China. A 1‐year retrospective cohort study was conducted among PLWHA who switched to second‐line ART between January 2009 and December 2018. All patients with a VL < 400 copies/ml after 1 year of second‐line ART were included. SIR was defined as a CD4 cell count <200 cells/μl and a VL < 400 copies/ml after 1 year of second‐line ART. The data collected from medical records were analyzed by univariate and multivariate analyses. A total of 5294 PLWHA met the inclusion criteria, 24 died, and 1152 were lost to follow‐up after 1 year of second‐line ART. Among 4118 PLWHA who were followed up, 3039 with a VL < 400 copies/ml had their data analyzed, and the prevalence of SIR was 13.1%. The patients’ mean age at recruitment was 47.6 ± 8.1 years and 45.3% were men. A total of 30.7% of patients were HIV‐positive for >8 years and 88.2% were receiving ART before starting second‐line ART for >3 years. The mean CD4 cell count was 354.8 ± 238.2 cells/μl. A multivariable analysis showed that male sex, single status (unmarried or divorced), and a low CD4 cell count were risk factors for SIR among PLWHA with second‐line ART. The prevalence of SIR among PLWHA who switched to second‐line ART in this retrospective cohort study is lower than that in most other studies. Several factors associated with SIR include male sex, marital status, and CD4 cell count levels in PLWHA.