441. Association between Incident HIV-Associated Wasting/Low Weight and All-Cause Mortality in the OPERA® Cohort


 
 
 HIV-associated wasting (i.e., progressive, involuntary weight loss with both fat and lean tissue loss; HIVAW) is an under-appreciated AIDS-defining illness; the 2012-2018 period prevalence was reported as 18% in a recent claims study in the United States. We aimed to assess the association between incident HIVAW/low weight and all-cause mortality in the era of modern combination antiretroviral therapy (ART).
 
 
 
 In the Observational Pharmaco-Epidemiology Research & Analysis (OPERA®) cohort, PWH without (a) any prior HIVAW/low weight, (b) malignancy within 3 years, and (c) opportunistic infection within 1 year who were active in care between 2016 and 2020 were followed through death, loss to follow-up, or study end (31OCT2021). HIVAW/low weight included a wasting or low BMI/underweight diagnosis (ICD codes, title search) or BMI < 20 kg/m2. Hazard ratios (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for the association between time-dependent incident HIVAW/low weight (exposure) and all-cause mortality (outcome) were estimated with extended Cox regression models. The adjusted model included age at baseline, race, ethnicity, and time-dependent covariates (log10 viral load, Veterans Aging Cohort Study [VACS] Mortality Index score). Viral load and VACS score were included as surrogate markers for ART use and comorbidities, respectively. Linear and quadratic terms of continuous variables were included.
 
 
 
 Of 67,119 PWH without prior HIVAW/low weight in OPERA®, 62,314 (93%) PWH had non-missing covariate data and were included in the models; baseline characteristics did not differ between the full and model study populations (Table 1). Over a median follow-up of 45 months (interquartile range: 27, 65), there were 4,755 (8%) cases of incident HIVAW/low weight and 1,354 (2%) deaths. In the adjusted model, PWH who experienced incident HIVAW/low weight had a significantly increased risk of death over follow-up than those who did not experience HIVAW/low weight (HR: 1.96; 95% CI: 1.68, 2.27) (Table 2).
 
 
 
 In this analysis of 62,314 PWH in care, incident HIVAW/low weight was associated with twice the risk for all-cause mortality in the modern ART era. Particular attention needs to be paid to HIVAW/low weight among PWH to restore health and potentially reduce the risk of death.
 
 
 
 Rachel P. Weber, PhD, AIDS Healthcare Foundation: Client of my employer|EMD Serono: Client of my employer|Gilead Sciences: Client of my employer|Janssen: Client of my employer|Merck & Co.: Client of my employer|TheraTechnologies: Client of my employer|ViiV Healthcare: Client of my employer Laurence Brunet, PhD, AIDS Healthcare Foundation: Client of my employer|EMD Serono: Client of my employer|Gilead Sciences: Client of my employer|Janssen: Client of my employer|Merck & Co: Client of my employer|TheraTechnologies: Client of my employer|ViiV Healthcare: Client of my employer Javeed Siddiqui, MD, MPH, Abbvie: Advisor/Consultant|Abbvie: Honoraria|Cumberland pharmaceuticals: Advisor/Consultant|Cumberland pharmaceuticals: Honoraria|EMD serono: Advisor/Consultant|EMD serono: Honoraria|Merck: Advisor/Consultant|Merck: Honoraria Javeed Siddiqui, MD, MPH, Abbvie: Advisor/Consultant|Abbvie: Honoraria|Cumberland pharmaceuticals: Advisor/Consultant|Cumberland pharmaceuticals: Honoraria|EMD serono: Advisor/Consultant|EMD serono: Honoraria|Merck: Advisor/Consultant|Merck: Honoraria Michael Harbour, MD, MPH, FACP, EMD Serono: Employee Amy L. Phillips, PharmD, EMD Serono, Inc.: Employment Brooke Hayward, SM, MBA, EMD Serono, Inc.: Employee Jennifer S. Fusco, BS, AIDS Healthcare Foundation: Client of my employer|EMD Serono: Client of my employer|Gilead Sciences: Client of my employer|Janssen: Client of my employer|Merck & Co.: Client of my employer|TheraTechnologies: Client of my employer|ViiV Healthcare: Client of my employer Ricky K. Hsu, MD, Gilead: Honoraria|Merck: Honoraria|ViiV: Advisor/Consultant|ViiV: Grant/Research Support|ViiV: Honoraria Gregory P. Fusco, MD, MPH, AIDS Healthcare Foundation: Client of employer|EMD: Grant/Research Support|Gilead Sciences: Client of employer|Janssen: Client of employer|Merck & Co.: Client of employer|Theratechnologies: Client of employer|ViiV Healthcare: Client of employer.
