Rates of Side Effects on Antiretrovirals Are Higher in Women Than Men

Rates of Side Effects on Antiretrovirals Are Higher in Women Than Men

Higher levels of ARVs may also have detrimental effects for women. We have found that women experience more frequent and severe side effects from antiretrovirals compared to men.²⁰

This remains an important issue to understand and address because side effects affect women's quality of life, overall health, and place them at risk for stopping medications that they cannot tolerate, which could have devastating effects on their HIV treatment.

There are many different side effects of antiretrovirals, but the most commonly reported side effects that seem to be worse in women are rashes, liver toxicity, and fat distribution changes.

Women of child-bearing age represent an important category to consider because certain antiretrovirals can have negative effects on the fetus if a woman should become pregnant.

Rash

People commonly develop rashes as a side effect of antiretrovirals; most are mild, but some can lead to serious complications, including hospitalization and even death.

Studies have shown that non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NNRTI)-induced rashes are more common and tend to be more severe among women.²¹

A study of nevirapine (Viramune) showed that 15.8% of women compared to 8.4% of men developed rashes. Women were approximately seven times more likely than men to develop a severe rash, and 3.5 times more likely to discontinue nevirapine because of their rash.²²

Another study confirmed this finding and also reported a trend of increased risk of rash among patients with higher CD4 counts.²³

Studies of pregnant women have shown varied results, but most studies suggest that they have either the same or a reduced risk of NNRTI-induced rash than non-pregnant women. Another study of a new NNRTI, etravirine (Intelence), also showed that women had an increased risk of rash compared to men, 34% versus 18%.²⁴