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Centre for Policy on Ageing | |
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Early diagnosis and treatment of HIV infection
— magnitude of benefit on short-term mortality is greatest in older adults | | Author(s) | Daniel H J Davis, Ruth Smith, Alison Brown |
| Journal title | Age and Ageing, vol 42, no 4, July 2013 |
| Publisher | Oxford University Press, July 2013 |
| Pages | pp 520-526 |
| Source | www.ageing.oxfordjournals.org |
| Keywords | AIDS ; Diagnosis ; Therapeutics ; Mature adults ; 50-59 age group ; Young adults [20-25] ; Death rate [statistics]. |
| Annotation | The number and proportion of adults diagnosed with HIV infection aged 50 years or older has risen. This study compares the effect of CD4 (white blood cell) counts and anti-retroviral therapy (ART) on mortality rates among adults diagnosed aged 50 or older with those diagnosed at a younger age. The study method used was a retrospective cohort analysis of national surveillance reports of HIV-diagnosed adults (15 years and older) in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The relative impacts of age, CD4 count at diagnosis and ART on mortality were determined in Cox proportional hazards models. Among 63,805 adults diagnosed with HIV between 2000 and 2009, 9% (5,683) were aged 50 years or above; older persons were more likely to be white, heterosexual and present with a CD4 count of less than 200 cells per cubic millimetre and AIDS at diagnosis. One-year mortality was higher in older adults and especially in those diagnosed with a CD4 of less than 200 cells per cubic millimetre left untreated. While the relative mortality risk reduction from ART initiation at CD of less than 200 cells per cubic millimetre was similar in both age groups, the absolute risk difference was higher among older adults such that the number needed to treat older adults to prevent one death was two compared with eight among younger adults. These findings show that the magnitude of benefit from ART is greater in older adults than younger adults. Older persons should be considered as a target for HIV testing. Coupled with prompt treatment, earlier diagnosis is likely to reduce deaths substantially in this group. (JL). |
| Accession Number | CPA-130712226 A |
| Classmark | CQTT: LK7: LL: SDM: BBB: SD6: S5 |
Data © Centre for Policy on Ageing |
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| ...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing. |
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