Addressing Cardiometabolic Disease in People Living with HIV: Developing Strategies to Improve Diet and Exercise by Assessing Multi-level Social Determinants of Health
Rongbing Xie, DrPH, MPH
University of Alabama at Birmingham
We are conducting a research study to understand how different factors affect high blood pressure (also known as hypertension) in people living with HIV. High blood pressure can cause serious health complications, and we have observed that Black people living with HIV have a higher risk of high blood pressure than White people living with HIV. We believe that different factors such as a person’s diet and exercise habits, where they live, and their access to healthcare may contribute to this disparity.
To study this, we have collected data from people living with HIV about their diet and exercise habits, as well as their individual and community-level social determinants of health (SDOH) such as race, income, education level, and neighborhood characteristics. We will then analyze this information to find out whether there are patterns between these factors and high blood pressure control. Our goal is to identify which factors are most strongly associated with high blood pressure control and use that knowledge to develop interventions that can help people living with HIV manage their blood pressure better.
We will be working closely with community partners and stakeholders throughout the study to ensure that our research is relevant to the local community. I will collaborate with the UAB CFAR’s community engagement core to identify community partners, establish partnerships, and work together on study design, participant recruitment, and dissemination of findings. By attending CFAR’s community engagement events, I will have the opportunity to discuss my research with stakeholders and recruit participants. I will present my research questions and analysis plan to the recruited community partners in our initial planning meeting, obtain their feedback and input, and attend bi-monthly community engagement meetings to update my partners and maintain their engagement. At the 6-month mark, I will present mid-term findings to the stakeholders, receive their feedback and input, and finalize the analysis and interpretation of the findings. Final findings will be disseminated through a presentation and a one-page handout, and future study plans will be discussed during our 1-year meeting. We believe that our findings could help reduce health disparities and improve the health outcomes of people living with HIV. We will present our findings to the community partners and stakeholders and work with them to disseminate the findings to the broader community.
