People living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) are twice as likely to develop cardiovascular disease (CVD), a recent study found. Researchers conducted a systematic review across 5 databases from inception to August 2016 for longitudinal studies of CVD in HIV infection. A random-effects meta-analysis across 80 studies was used to derive the pooled rate and risk of CVD in people living with HIV. Temporal changes in the population attributable fraction and disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) from HIV associated CVD from 1990 to 2015 at a regional and global level were then estimated. Among the findings:

• Among 793,635 people living the HIV and a total follow-up of 3.5 million person-years, the crude rate of CVD was 61.8 per 10,000 person-years.
• Compared to individuals without HIV, the risk ratio for CVD was 2.16.
• Over the last 26 years, the global population attributable fraction from CVD due to HIV increased from 0.36% to 0.92% and DALYs increased from 0.74 to 2.57 million.
• The majority of the burden is in sub-Saharan Africa and the Asia Pacific regions.