JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Older Latinos with HIV are at increased risk for mild cognitive impairment and earlier onset of aging-related cognitive decline. Improvements in cognitive functioning and cognitive outcomes are possible among people with HIV who adopt health promotion behaviors. However, health promotion interventions for older Latinos with HIV have not been extensively utilized or widely recognized as viable treatment options. Happy Older Latinos are Active (HOLA) is a multi-component, health promotion intervention that is uniquely tailored for older Latinos with HIV.

Objective:

The purpose of this study was four-fold: 1) to determine the feasibility and acceptability of an adapted version of HOLA aimed at improving cognitive functioning among older Latinos with HIV; 2) to explore whether HOLA will produce changes in cognitive functioning; 3) to explore whether HOLA will produce changes in activity, psychosocial functioning, or biomarkers of cognition; and 4) to explore whether changes in activity, psychosocial functioning or cognitive biomarkers correlate with changes in cognition, while accounting for genetic risk for dementia.

Methods:

A single-arm pilot trial with 30 older (aged 50+ years) Latino men and women with HIV was conducted to assess feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary effects on cognition. Participants were assessed at two time points (baseline and post-intervention) on measures of neurocognitive and psychosocial functioning. In addition, blood samples were collected to determine biomarkers of cognition at baseline and post-intervention. Successful recruitment was defined as meeting 100% of the targeted sample (N = 30), with 20% or less of eligible participants refusing to participate. Adequate retention was defined as 85% or more of participants completing the post-intervention assessment and acceptability was defined as 80% or more of sessions attended by participants.

Results:

Participant recruitment began on February 22, 2022, and was completed on August 15, 2022. The last study visit took place on February 20, 2023. Data analysis is currently ongoing.

Conclusions:

Encouraging findings from this exploratory study may provide a blueprint for scaling up the HOLA intervention to a larger cohort of older Latinos with HIV who may be currently experiencing or are at risk for HIV-related cognitive challenges. Clinical Trial: The trial was registered in the clinicaltrials.gov database on March 5, 2021 (NCT: NCT04791709).