Abstract
Background
People living with HIV (PLWH) initiating antiretroviral therapy (ART) with viral loads (VL) ≥100,000 copies/mL are less likely to achieve virologic success, but few studies have characterized real-world treatment outcomes.
Methods
ART-naïve PLWH with VLs ≥100,000 copies/mL initiating dolutegravir (DTG), elvitegravir (EVG), raltegravir (RAL) or darunavir (DRV) between 12Aug2013 and 31July2017 were identified from the OPERA Database. Virologic failure was defined as (i) 2 consecutive VLs ≥200 copies/mL after 36 weeks of ART, or (ii) 1 VL ≥200 copies/mL with core agent discontinuation after 36 weeks, or (iii) 2 consecutive VL ≥200 copies/mL after suppression (≤50 copies/mL) before 36 weeks, or (iv) 1 VL ≥200 copies/mL with discontinuation after suppression before 36 weeks. Cox modelling estimated the association between regimen and virologic failure.
Results
There were 2,038 ART-naïve patients with high VL who initiated DTG (36%), EVG (46%), DRV (16%) or RAL (2%). Median follow-up was 18.1 months (IQR:12.4-28.9). EVG and DTG initiators were similar at baseline but RAL initiators were older and more likely to be female with low CD4 cell counts while DRV initiators differed notably on factors associated with treatment failure. Virologic failure was experienced by 9.2% DTG, 13.2% EVG, 18.4% RAL and 18.8% DRV initiators. Compared to DTG, the adjusted hazard ratio (95% CI) was 1.46 (1.05, 2.03) for EVG, 2.24 (1.50, 3.34) for DRV, and 4.13 (1.85, 9.24) for RAL.
Conclusion
ART-naïve PLWH with high VLs initiating on DTG were significantly less likely to experience virologic failure compared to EVG, RAL and DRV initiators.
Prevalence and Factors Associated with Virologic Failure among People Living with HIV (PLHIV) Monitored in a Decentralized Health Care Facility
