Justification for a new cohort study of people aging with and without HIV infection

Justice, A.C.; Landefeld, C.S.; Asch, S.M.; Gifford, A.L.; Whalen, C.C.; Covinsky, K.E.

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Volume 54, Issue 12, Supplement 1 , Pages S3-S8, December 2001

Justification for a new cohort study of people aging with and without HIV infection

A.C. Justice
- Center for Health Equity Research and Promotion, VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System, University Drive C 11E-124 (130-U), Pittsburgh, PA 15240, USA
- Veterans Aging Cohort Study (VACS) Center, Division of General Internal Medicine, School of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
- Corresponding author. Tel.: 412-688-6957; fax: 412-688-6916. E-mail address:(A.C. Justice)
C.S. Landefeld
- VA San Francisco Healthcare System and University of California San Francisoco School of Medicine, Division of Geriatrics, San Francisco, CA, USA
S.M. Asch
- VA Los Angeles Healthcare System and University of California Los Angeles School of Medicine, Division of General Internal Medicine, Los Angeles, CA, USA
A.L. Gifford
- VA San Diego Healthcare System and University of California San Diego School of Medicine, Division of General Internal Medicine, San Diego, CA, USA
C.C. Whalen
- Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases and Department of Epidemiology, Cleveland, OH, USA
K.E. Covinsky
- VA San Francisco Healthcare System and University of California San Francisoco School of Medicine, Division of Geriatrics, San Francisco, CA, USA

Received 24 July 2001; received in revised form 17 August 2001; accepted 17 August 2001.

Abstract

This supplement contains a series of papers supporting the justification, design, and implementation of a longitudinal cohort study of an aging HIV-positive and HIV-negative veteran population called the Veterans Aging Cohort Study (VACS). Although the papers cover a wide range of topics and several papers address methodologic issues not unique to a study of aging veterans, all are motivated by a unifying set of assumptions. Specifically: (a) HIV/AIDS is a chronic disease in an aging population; (b) conditions among HIV-positive and -negative patients in care have overlapping etiologies; (c) individuals with pre-existing organ injury are at increased risk for iatrogenic injury; (d) cohort studies are uniquely suited to the study of chronic disease complicated by aging, comorbid conditions, drug toxicities, and substance use/abuse; (e) VACS is well positioned to study HIV as a chronic disease in an aging population.

Keywords: Cohort study, People aging, HIV-positive, HIV-negative