Abstract

Objective:The aim of this study was to describe growth during puberty in young people with vertically acquired HIV.Design:Pooled data from 12 paediatric HIV cohorts in Europe and Thailand.Methods:One thousand and ninety-four children initiating a nonnucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor or boosted protease inhibitor based regimen aged 1–10 years were included. Super Imposition by Translation And Rotation (SITAR) models described growth from age 8 years using three parameters (average height, timing and shape of the growth spurt), dependent on age and height-for-age z-score (HAZ) (WHO references) at antiretroviral therapy (ART) initiation. Multivariate regression explored characteristics associated with these three parameters.Results:At ART initiation, median age and HAZ was 6.4 [interquartile range (IQR): 2.8, 9.0] years and −1.2 (IQR: −2.3 to −0.2), respectively. Median follow-up was 9.1 (IQR: 6.9, 11.4) years. In girls, older age and lower HAZ at ART initiation were independently associated with a growth spurt which occurred 0.41 (95% confidence interval 0.20–0.62) years later in children starting ART age 6 to 10 years compared with 1 to 2 years and 1.50 (1.21–1.78) years later in those starting with HAZ less than −3 compared with HAZ at least −1. Later growth spurts in girls resulted in continued height growth into later adolescence. In boys starting ART with HAZ less than −1, growth spurts were later in children starting ART in the oldest age group, but for HAZ at least −1, there was no association with age. Girls and boys who initiated ART with HAZ at least −1 maintained a similar height to the WHO reference mean.Conclusion:Stunting at ART initiation was associated with later growth spurts in girls. Children with HAZ at least −1 at ART initiation grew in height at the level expected in HIV negative children of a comparable age.

Highlights

  • Young people living with HIVare at risk for poor height growth [1], treatment with antiretroviral therapy (ART) improves growth, with strongest gains in those treated at a young age [2]

  • We described growth throughout adolescence in a large cohort of young people with vertically acquired HIV in Europe and Thailand

  • Were able to achieve a similar height to the WHO reference at age 16 years, suggesting that for others, catch up growth associated with being on ART long term was not sufficient to restore height to what would be expected in an HIV-negative population

Read more

Summary

Introduction

Young people living with HIVare at risk for poor height growth [1], treatment with antiretroviral therapy (ART) improves growth, with strongest gains in those treated at a young age [2]. Delays in pubertal development have been reported in young people with HIV [3,4,5,6,7], with the onset of puberty [5] and sexual maturation [6] occurring 6 months later compared with HIV-exposed uninfected young people (HEU). Earlier puberty in the general population is associated with being taller and having higher BMI throughout childhood [8], and poor growth in children with HIV has been shown to account for much of the DOI:10.1097/QAD.0000000000002294.

Methods
Results
Conclusion
Full Text
Published version (Free)

Talk to us

Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have

Schedule a call