Multimorbidity and Polypharmacy in People With HIV vs. the General Population in the Basque Country

NCT07621224 | Not Yet Recruiting

• 1 other identifier: 2023111044
• Study Type: observational
• Target: 12,546
• Locations: 0 countries
• Sites: N/A

Brief Summary

People living with HIV now have a life expectancy similar to that of the general population, thanks to major advances in antiretroviral treatment. As they live longer, many of them experience multiple health conditions at the same time and take several medications, often more than people without HIV. In our region, 6,273 people are currently receiving antiretroviral therapy. However, the new care pathway designed for patients with multiple chronic conditions in the Basque Country's public health system does not include people with HIV. At the same time, we lack local data on how common multimorbidity, polypharmacy, and potentially inappropriate prescribing are among this group. These gaps motivated our study. Our goal is to estimate how frequent these issues are among all people with HIV who receive care in the infectious disease departments of the hospitals in Araba, Basurto, Galdakao, Cruces, and Donostia, and to compare them with a similar group of people without HIV. To do this, we designed a cross-sectional study including the 6,273 people with HIV and a control group from the general population, selected to match them by age, sex, and health centre. By analysing data from electronic health records, we aim to determine whether people with HIV have higher rates of multimorbidity, polypharmacy, and inappropriate prescribing than the general population. The findings from both groups will help us update the care pathway and improve coordinated care for HIV-positive patients with multiple health conditions.

Conditions

HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus)

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (6)

• Prevalence of multimorbidity in people with HIV in the Basque Country

  Proportion of people with HIV aged ≥18 years who have ≥2 chronic diseases recorded in their electronic health records. Automated extraction of active diagnoses coded in the electronic health records.

  Enrollment

• Prevalence of multimorbidity in the general population in the Basque Country

  Proportion of people aged ≥18 years who have ≥2 chronic diseases recorded in their electronic health record. Automated extraction of active diagnoses coded in the electronic health records.

  Enrollment

• Prevalence of polypharmacy in people with HIV in the Basque Country

  Proportion of people with HIV aged ≥18 years who have ≥5 prescribed medications and ≥10 medications (excessive polypharmacy) as chronic or on demand treatments, excluding antiretroviral therapy. Adherence according to the dispensing records.

  Enrollment

• Prevalence of polypharmacy in the general population in the Basque Country

  Proportion of people aged ≥18 years who have ≥5 prescribed medications and ≥10 medications (excessive polypharmacy) as chronic or on demand treatments, excluding antiretroviral therapy. Adherence according to the dispensing records.

  Enrollment

• Prevalence of potentially inappropriate prescriptions in people with HIV in the Basque Country

  Proportion of people with HIV aged ≥18 years who present potentially inappropriate prescriptions according to the STOPP/START criteria: duplications, exceeded maximum doses, contraindicated or severe interactions, anticholinergic burden in people over 70 years of age, and exceeded treatment duration.

  Enrollment

• Prevalence of potentially inappropriate prescriptions in the general population in the Basque Country

  Proportion of people aged ≥18 years who present potentially inappropriate prescriptions according to the STOPP/START criteria: duplications, exceeded maximum doses, contraindicated or severe interactions, anticholinergic burden in people over 70 years of age, and exceeded treatment duration.

  Enrollment

Study Arms (2)

People with HIV

People with HIV aged 18 years or over receiving care in the infectious diseases departments of the hospitals in Araba, Basurto, Galdakao, Cruces and Donostia.

Other: No intervention

General population

General population through stratified sampling according to the distribution by age, sex and health centre of the HIV population

Other: No intervention

Interventions

No intervention OTHER

No intervention

General population; People with HIV

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years+
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)
• Sampling Method: Probability Sample

Study Population

People with HIV aged 18 or over who are being monitored by the infectious diseases departments of the Araba, Cruces, Basurto and Donostia University Hospitals and the Galdakao-Usansolo Hospital, all part of Osakidetza. Five HIV-negative controls will be selected for each person with HIV. Stratified random sampling will be carried out by age, sex and referral hospital, according to the composition of the HIV population.

You may qualify if:

• People with HIV aged 18 or over
• Being monitored by the infectious diseases departments of the Araba, Cruces, Basurto and Donostia University Hospitals and the Galdakao-Usansolo Hospital, all part of Osakidetza.

You may not qualify if:

• \- Being under 18 years of age

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Biogipuzkoa Health Research Institute: lead

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

HIV Infections; Blood-Borne Infections; Communicable Diseases; Infections; Sexually Transmitted Diseases, Viral; Sexually Transmitted Diseases; Lentivirus Infections; Retroviridae Infections; RNA Virus Infections; Virus Diseases; Slow Virus Diseases; Genital Diseases; Urogenital Diseases; Immunologic Deficiency Syndromes; Immune System Diseases

Study Design

• Study Type: observational
• Observational Model: OTHER
• Time Perspective: CROSS SECTIONAL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: May 27, 2026
• First Posted: June 2, 2026
• Study Start (Estimated): September 1, 2026
• Primary Completion (Estimated): October 1, 2026
• Study Completion (Estimated): October 1, 2026
• Last Updated: June 12, 2026

Record last verified: 2026-06