Clinical Characteristics of HIV-Infected Patients With Sleep Disturbance

Objective: This study aims to examine clinical characteristics and to identify possible risk factors of sleep disturbances in people living with HIV (PLWH).Methods: All research data of patients who were first diagnosed with HIV/AIDS from January 1, 2012 to December 31, 2021 and complained of sleep disturbance at least once were retrospectively reviewed by the Severance Clinical Research Analysis Portal (SCRAP) service of Severance hospital. The presence of sleep disturbance was evaluated based on whether insomnia disorder diagnosis code was included or whether insomnia medication was prescribed. The patients were divided into either the group with sleep disturbance within 3 months (SDW3) and the group with after 3 months (SDA3). All data were reported using descriptive statistics.Results: Of the 674 patients diagnosed with HIV during the period, 56 patients experienced sleep disturbances at least once and approximately 50% of patients have experienced sleep disturbance in the first 3 months after HIV diagnosis. CD4+ cell count at the time of first onset of sleep disturbance was significantly lower (p=0.03) and HIV viral load at the time of first onset of sleep disturbance was significantly higher (p<0.001) in SDW3 group. SDW3 patients showed higher rates of opportunistic infections compared to SDA3 patients.Conclusion: The current study suggests that further investigation of the underlying pathophysiology of sleep disturbance and association with immunological changes for early diagnosis and treatment of sleep disturbance in PLWH.