Risk factors for fat changes

There are host, disease, and medication risk factors associated with body fat changes. These include:

  • Type and duration of antiretroviral therapy
  • Use of specific antiretrovirals
  • Duration of HIV infection
  • Severity of HIV infection
  • CD4 nadir
  • Gender
  • Age
  • Race/Ethnicity
  • Baseline body composition
  • Genetics

The choice of antiretroviral drug has a particularly strong influence on the risk of developing lipodystrophy, and the evidence regarding the effects of different drugs and drug classes on the risk of developing lipodystrophy is discussed in The role of ARVs in lipodystrophy. 

This content was checked for accuracy at the time it was written. It may have been superseded by more recent developments. NAM recommends checking whether this is the most current information when making decisions that may affect your health.