Background HIV patients constitute a group of patients to whom strict control of their pharmacotherapy must be carried out. They have risk of interactions and their adherence to treatment is essential. A hospital admission can cause imbalances that affect the patient.

Purpose To study the main characteristics of HIV patients admitted to the hospital, analysing: reason for admission, virological and immunological status at admission, ART used during admission, possible drug interactions and adherence to treatment before and after admission.

Material and methods All patients diagnosed with HIV infection and admitted to the hospital during the period August 2017–December 2017 were selected. For each of them was checked: the medical history, the medical prescription during the admission and the dispensation records of the computer program of outpatient pharmaceutical care. Adherence to treatment was calculated in the 3 months before and after admission. A scientific literature search was performed to identify potential drug interactions.

Results A total of 48 patients were analysed. The causes of admission were very varied, highlighting cardiovascular (25%) and respiratory (14%). The ART was modified to 20% of the patients during the admission, mainly due to inefficiency and the appearance of resistances. In five cases, the patient did not take any antiretroviral treatment and was instituted at the time of admission. Patients had an average adherence before admission of 94%. However, after admission, the adherence of all patients was lower. Even in seven patients the adherence dropped more than 10%. Regarding drug interactions, 18 relevant clinical interactions were found. The most common were associations of protease inhibitors with benzodiazepines (12 patients). In three patients were detected combinations of drugs not recommended in the clinical practice guidelines because of increased risk of QT interval. This was the case of darunavir/salmeterol association.

Conclusion The hospital admission of HIV patients is mostly related to the poor virological and immunological status of the patient. Adherence is affected in some cases, which leads to an important adherence control after admission to this type of patient. The incidence of adverse effects is also important, as greater attention from the pharmacist is required.

References and/or acknowledgements https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3615262/

No conflict of interest.