New research suggests that clinicians should promote physical activity in patients with HIV to mitigate the risk of liver steatosis.

Researchers investigated the relationship between physical activity and liver steatosis in people with HIV (PWH). Carlotta Riebensahm, MD, and coinvestigators used vibration-controlled transient elastography to assess 466 participants for liver steatosis. The researchers measured physical activity levels using the International Physical Activity Questionnaire and analyzed three different physical activity metrics. Insufficient physical activity, defined by the recommendations from the European Association for the Study of the Liver, was significantly associated with liver steatosis in PWH (aOR, 2.34; 95% CI: 1.44-3.85). This association held across alternative physical activity measures, including metabolic equivalents task minutes per week (aOR, 0.76; 95% CI: 0.60-0.94) and sitting hours per day (aOR, 1.16; CI: 1.07-1.26). The association persisted when researchers evaluated only patients with a BMI less than 25 kg/m2. Dr. Riebensahm and colleagues concluded that clinicians should promote physical activity to mitigate the risk of liver steatosis in PWH, regardless of body mass index.