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Centre for Policy on Ageing | |
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| Characteristics of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome in older adults | | Author(s) | Helen X Chen, Patricia A Ryan, Robert P Ferguson |
| Journal title | Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, vol 46, no 2, February 1998 |
| Pages | pp 153-155 |
| Keywords | AIDS ; Pneumonia ; Demography ; United States of America. |
| Annotation | The authors examined demographic and clinical features of older AIDS patients (age 60 and over at diagnosis) compared with younger individuals (aged 20 to 39) from the Maryland AIDS Register from 1981 until 1994. 321 (2.7%) of AIDS cases diagnosed were 60 and over, compared with 7511 cases (63.9%) in those aged 20 to 39. The proportion of whites was higher in the older group; the gender distribution was similar to younger counterparts. Transfusion was the primary cause of exposure of 32% of older people with AIDS. However, in recent years, sexual transmission and drug abuse have been implicated more frequently. 12% of older patients had no reported risk factors compared with 4% of younger AIDS patients. The most common symptom in older cases was Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia. Wasting syndrome, candidiasis, and HIV encephalopathy also occurred frequently. Median life span was 9 months compared with 22 months in the young. This study demonstrates that transfusion is no longer the leading cause of AIDS in older people in Maryland (MD). The relatively increased prominence of transmission by other modes in this age group raises the importance of preventive and educational measures. (RH). |
| Accession Number | CPA-981117005 A |
| Classmark | CQTT: CNP: S8: 7T |
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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