Dr Lauren Walker and Dr Naomi Sutton discuss the topic of multiple co-morbidities in an aging cohort of people living with HIV (PLWH), delving into the shift in focus in HIV care from keeping PLWH alive to improving their quality of life as they age. Lauren walks listeners through the relationship between HIV and co-morbidities, the cumulative burden of small harms, and the impact of polypharmacy on quality of life. Lauren and Naomi discuss where the responsibility of de-prescribing lies, and when clinicians should undertake medicines optimisation; as well as working towards a more ideal approach to managing co-morbidities in the presence of HIV.
“Decisions about medicine shouldn't only be made by the clinician in front of you. It should be a shared decision where we talk about risk and we talk about benefit and the potential harms of medicines and we decide together what's your priority and what do you want to do.”
Resources:
University of Liverpool, Liverpool Combined Comorbidities Calculator
