NUTRITIONAL-STATUS, GASTROINTESTINAL DYSFUNCTION, AND SURVIVAL IN PATIENTS WITH AIDS

  • 1 October 1989
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 84  (10) , 1288-1293
Abstract
The clinical course of 71 patients with acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) was evaluated to determine relationships among nutritional status, gastrointestinal symptoms and survival. At baseline, weight loss was present in 98%, hypoalbuminemia (< 3.5 g/dl) was present in 83%, and gastrointestinal symptoms included pharyngitis (54%), diarrhea (42%), nausea (23%), dysphagia (21%), and anorexia (18%). Both the magnitude of body weight loss and the serum albumin level were strongly associated with life-table analysis of survival. For weight loss, median survival of 520 vs. 48 days occurred in patients with < 10% versus > 20% baseline weight loss, respectively (p < 0.01). In almost all cases, serial evaluation demonstrated progressive linear decrease in body weight and albumin. In patients with normal baseline albumin, the rate of 0.7 mg/dl albumin decrease per day was less than half that in patients with baseline hypoalbuminemia. A projected "time to develop an albumin level < 2.5 g/dl" was calculated for patient groups based on initial albumin level and the rate of albumin decrease. The calculated interval was similar to the actual median survival time observed in these groups. We conclude that 1) nutritional status may represent a major determinant of survival in AIDS and 2) the rate of albumin decrease may define a function limiting survival of individual patients with AIDS.