Trends in causes of death in the Aquitaine cohort of HIV-infected patients, 1995-1997.

OBJECTIVE: To describe trends in the evolution of causes of death in a cohort of HIV-infected patients before and after the introduction of highly active antiretroviral treatment (HAART). METHODS: This descriptive study concerned all the patients of the Aquitaine cohort who died between 1995 and 1997. Causes of deaths were grouped into 13 'deaths due to an AIDS-defining underlying cause', and eight 'non AIDS' categories. Comparisons were performed between two comparable periods of 18 months, January 1995-June 1996 and July 1996-December 1997 to focus on changes introduced by the prescription of HAART in June 1996. RESULTS: Five hundred and thirty-two deaths were notified in 36 months for a total of 3687 patients. The comparison between causes of deaths before and after June 1996 showed a significant difference between the two periods with a decreasing proportion of AIDS causes of death, from 82.7% to 72.2% (p = 0.007). CONCLUSION: HAART treatment has reduced the number and percentage of deaths due to AIDS-related causes among persons who died with HIV infection in South-western France.