Trends in nontuberculous mycobacterial disease in hospitalized subjects in Spain (1997-2010) according to HIV infection

Abstract

The aim of the study was to estimate the incidence of nontuberculous mycobacterial (NTM) disease and the rate of NTM disease-related mortality and to analyse trends in these variables according to HIV infection. Methods: We performed a retrospective study for the period 1997-2010 using data from the Minimum Basic Data Set (MBDS) provided by the Spanish Ministry of Health. The exposure variables were: (i) HIV infection (HIV positive versus HIV negative); (ii) calendar period in relation to widespread use of combination antiretroviral therapy (cART) [1997-1999 (early cART period), 2000-2003 (middle cART period) and 2004-2010 (late cART period)]. The outcome variables were (i) new NTM disease diagnosis and (ii) mortality. Results: A total of 3729 cases of incident NTM disease were collected in MBDS, 1795 in the HIV-negative group and 1934 in the HIV-positive group, among whom 602 deaths occurred, 223 in the HIV-negative group and 379 in the HIV-positive group. The incidence of NTM disease and the rate of NTM disease-related mortality were 1000-fold higher in the HIV-positive group than in the HIV-negative group. Regarding the incidence of NTM disease, in the HIV-negative group the incidence increased from 2.91 to 3.97 events per 1000000 patient-years from 1997-1999 to 2004-2010 (P<0.001), while in the HIV-positive group the incidence decreased from 2.29 to 0.71 events per 1000 patient-years from 1997-1999 to 2004-2010 (P<0.001). Regarding mortality, in the HIV-negative group mortality increased from 2.63 to 4.26 events per 10000000 patient-years from 1997-1999 to 2000-2003 (P=0.059), and then the rate stabilized at around 3.87 events per 10000000 patient-years in 2004-2010 (P=0.128), while in the HIV-positive group mortality decreased from 4.28 to 1.39 events per 10000 patient-years from 1997-1999 to 2004-2010 (P<0.001). Conclusions: HIV infection was associated with a higher NTM disease incidence and higher NTM disease-related mortality than in the general population, but these rates decreased in the HIV-positive group from 1997-1999 to 2004-2010, whereas the NTM disease incidence increased in the HIV-negative group.