Examining Mortality to Identify Opportunities for Improved Care Among Adults with HIV in a Single Academic Medical Center

Mortality for people living with HIV (PLWH) has dramatically decreased since the mid-1990s and the proportion of deaths attributable to non-AIDS-related conditions has increased. Deceased PLWH were identified from a single academic medical center through provider survey and electronic medical record query. Cause of death was determined using the Coding Causes of Death in HIV tool following review of available medical records. Chart review of comorbidities, demographics, laboratory values, and previous completion of screening tests for malignancies was conducted for deaths during the period of 2013-2017. The proportion of AIDS-related deaths decreased markedly between 1995 and 2017, while the proportion of deaths from non-AIDS malignancies increased. From 2013 to 2017, 30 of 121 deaths were attributed to AIDS-related conditions, 32 to non-AIDS malignancies, 14 to suicide/homicide or sudden death, 10 to cardiac causes, 28 to other non-HIV causes, and 7 to unknown causes. Those who died of non-AIDS-related malignancies were older than AIDS-related deaths [mean age 55.8 (7.6) vs. 47.3 (13.5), p value = .003]. Less than half of potentially eligible patients had documented colon cancer screening. The number of individuals dying from AIDS-related conditions has decreased significantly and non-AIDS-related causes, particularly non-AIDS-related malignancies, have become more prominent causes of death. As our patients age, a greater focus needs to be placed on management of comorbid illnesses and screening and prevention of malignancy.