The POPPY (Pharmacokinetic and clinical Observations in PeoPle over fiftY) Study

The POPPY Study was started in 2013 as the first large-scale study to assess clinical outcomes of people living with HIV (PLWH) over the age of 50 in England and Ireland.

Project Summary

Discussions around the management of HIV as a long-term chronic disease have been ongoing since the mid-1990s when the impressive benefits of antiretroviral therapy (ART) became apparent.

Recent studies have suggested that people living with HIV may experience a speeding up of the aging process, with reports of increases in the rates of several co-morbidities, including cardiovascular disease (CVD), cancers, and end-stage liver and renal disease.

The cohort includes participants from 8 clinics, seven of which are in the UK, and one of which is in Ireland.  The cohort includes three specific groups of people:

  • 699 people with HIV aged >50 years;
  • 374 people with HIV aged <50 years; and
  • 304 people without HIV aged >50 years.

The group of older people with HIV were selected in such a way as to ensure that this older cohort is broadly representative of older people with HIV in the UK and Ireland.

The group of younger people with HIV and the group without HIV were then selectively recruited to ensure that they had similar demographic and lifestyle characteristics to the older people with HIV.  This helps to ensure that our findings are as robust as possible.

Findings from the study are helpful for the development and implementation of evidence-based recommendations for the management and clinical monitoring of older people with HIV.

Study results have also contributed to the design of future studies for the treatment of diseases associated with ageing in this population.

Key Project Information

Dates: 2013 - (ongoing)

Principal Investigator: Prof Caroline Sabin

Co-Lead organisations: UCL and Imperial College London

Partners: Imperial College London, St. Mary’s Hospital, Kings College London, Royal Free Hospital, Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, Homerton University Hospital, University College Dublin, Brighton and Sussex University Hospital, UK Community Advisory Board

Location: UK and Ireland

Funding: Various pharmaceutical companies

Contact: Prof Caroline Sabin

UCL: Caroline Sabin, Saumitro Deb, Lux Sukumaran, Laura Waters, Hajra Okhai

Imperial College London: Alan Winston, Nicki Doyle

University College Dublin/Mater Misericordiae Hospital: Paddy Mallon

Kings College London: Frank Post

Chelsea and Westminster Hospital: Marta Boffito, Jasmini Alagaratnam

Homerton University Hospital: Jane Anderson

Brighton and Sussex University Hospital: Jaime Vera

Royal Free Hospital: Margaret Johnson

UK Community Advisory Board: Memory Sachikonye

Publications

Cohort profile: The Pharmacokinetic and clinical Observations in PeoPle over fiftY (POPPY) study. Emmanouil Bagkeris, Laura Burgess, Patrick W Mallon, Frank A Post, Marta Boffito, Memory Sachikonye, Jane Anderson, David Asboe, Lucy Garvey, Jaime Vera, Ian Williams, Margaret Johnson, Daphne Babalis, Davide De Francesco, Alan Winston, Caroline A Sabin, , International Journal of Epidemiology, Volume 47, Issue 5, October 2018.