BACKGROUND: Modern combination antiretroviral therapy (cART) has improved survival for people living with HIV (PLWHIV). Non-AIDS comorbidities have replaced opportunistic infections as leading causes of mortality and morbidity, and are becoming a key health concern as this population continues to age. The aim of this study is to estimate the prevalence and incidence of non-AIDS comorbidity among PLWHIV in Denmark in the cART era and to determine risk factors contributing to the pathogenesis. The study primarily targets cardiovascular, respiratory, and hepatic non-AIDS comorbidity.

METHODS/DESIGN: The Copenhagen comorbidity in HIV-infection (COCOMO) study is an observational, longitudinal cohort study. The study was initiated in 2015 and recruitment is ongoing with the aim of including 1500 PLWHIV from the Copenhagen area. Follow-up examinations after 2 and 10 years are planned. Uninfected controls are derived from the Copenhagen General Population Study (CGPS), a cohort study including 100,000 uninfected participants from the same geographical region. Physiological and biological measures including blood pressure, ankle-brachial index, electrocardiogram, spirometry, exhaled nitric oxide, transient elastography of the liver, computed tomography (CT) angiography of the heart, unenhanced CT of the chest and upper abdomen, and a number of routine biochemical analysis are uniformly collected in participants from the COCOMO study and the CGPS. Plasma, serum, buffy coat, peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC), urine, and stool samples are collected in a biobank for future studies. Data will be updated through periodical linking to national databases.

DISCUSSION: As life expectancy for PLWHIV improves, it is essential to study long-term impact of HIV and cART. We anticipate that findings from this cohort study will increase knowledge on non-AIDS comorbidity in PLWHIV and identify targets for future interventional trials. Recognizing the demographic, clinical and pathophysiological characteristics of comorbidity in PLWHIV may help inform development of new guidelines and enable us to move forward to a more personalized HIV care.

TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT02382822 .