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© 2017 British HIV Association.Objectives: We sought to evaluate whether people living with HIV (PLWH) using effective antiretroviral therapy (ART) have worse respiratory health status than similar HIV-negative individuals. Methods: We recruited 197 HIV-positive and 93 HIV-negative adults from HIV and sexual health clinics. They completed a questionnaire regarding risk factors for respiratory illness. Respiratory health status was assessed using the St George's Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ) and the Medical Research Council (MRC) breathlessness scale. Subjects underwent spirometry without bronchodilation. Results: PLWH had worse respiratory health status: the median SGRQ Total score was 12 [interquartile range (IQR) 6-25] in HIV-positive subjects vs. 6 (IQR 2-14) in HIV-negative subjects (P

Background The widespread use of antiretroviral therapy (ART) has led to a reduction in HIV related opportunistic infections. An increase in chronic non-HIV related co-morbidities has been observed in stable HIV positive individuals receiving ART. The extent to which HIV infection remains an independent risk factor for respiratory disease despite the use of antiretroviral therapy is uncertain and few studies have systematically evaluated respiratory disease in HIV-infected populations with access to antiretroviral therapy. Aims We sought to evaluate the frequency of (a) smoking and (b) respiratory symptoms and (c) spirometric impairment in the ambulatory UK adult HIV infected population, compared to HIV uninfected controls. Methods HIV-positive participants were recruited from a large HIV care service, HIV uninfected participants were recruited from Sexual Health services (where recruitment was stratified by age to approximate that of the HIV positive subjects). Participants completed a questionnaire which included questions on smoking history and respiratory health status using the St George’s Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ), and undertook spirometry without bronchodilation. Results 249 participants were recruited between April and July 2015 (Table 1). 28% of HIV positive and 33% of HIV negative participants were current smokers (p = 0.22). 9% of HIV positive and 7% of HIV negative participants had an FEV 1 /FVC of Significantly higher SGRQ scores were observed in HIV positive participants than HIV-negative participants with a median total SGRQ score of 12 for those with HIV infection and 8 for the HIV negative participants (p = 0.03). In a linear regression (log scale) model, HIV infection was associated with a 62% increase (95% CI 1.19–2.21, p Conclusions Despite widespread use of ART, HIV infection is independently associated with impaired respiratory health status. This does not appear to result from current smoking or obstructive lung disease.