Duration of human immunodeficiency virus infection and likelihood of giving birth in a Medicaid population in Maryland.

The objective of this study was to examine the effect of duration of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection on a woman's likelihood of giving birth. Using longitudinal data from the Maryland state Human Immunodeficiency Virus Information System and a retrospective cohort design, the authors compared 1,642 women with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) to 8,443 uninfected women enrolled in the Medicaid program between 1985 and 1995. The decade before AIDS diagnosis was divided into four 2.5-year periods. Proximity to AIDS diagnosis served as a proxy for duration of infection. An extension of the Cox model was used to estimate the relative risk for giving birth, with adjustment for covariates and repeated outcomes. The average number of births per 100 person-years was 6.0 for HIV-infected women and 11.1 for uninfected women (adjusted relative risk = 0.63; 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.57, 0.68). Accounting for duration of infection, the adjusted relative risks for birth among HIV-infected women, as compared with uninfected women, were 0.85 (95% CI: 0.71, 1.03), 0.74 (95% CI: 0.63, 0.86), 0.55 (95% CI: 0.47, 0.64), and 0.45 (95% CI: 0.38, 0.55) for successive 2.5-year periods before AIDS diagnosis. Demographic characteristics, contraception, abortion, fetal loss, or drug use could not fully explain the reductions. These results suggest that HIV-infected women experience a progressive reduction in births years before the onset of AIDS. This may compromise estimation of HIV prevalence and interpretation of time trends from serosurveillance of pregnant women.

Adherence to antiretroviral and pneumocystis prophylaxis in HIV disease.

BACKGROUND: Medication nonadherence in the treatment of chronic diseases compromises the effectiveness of therapy. Little information is available about the extent of medication adherence or determinants of medication adherence in HIV disease, an issue of increasing importance in this new therapeutic era of combination antiretroviral therapy. METHODS: We studied 244 HIV-infected Medicaid-insured patients attending an HIV hospital-based clinic regarding the extent of and predictors of adherence to antiretroviral therapy and Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia (PCP) prophylaxis. Patients were asked to report medications being taken, patterns of use, and knowledge and attitudes about HIV therapies. Medical record report of type, dose, and frequency of medication was compared with self-report using the kappa statistic. Urine sulfamethoxazole assay was obtained from patients prescribed sulfamethoxazole-trimethoprim. RESULTS: Among patients prescribed antiretroviral therapy, 60% reported > or = 80% adherence in the previous 7 days; 49% reported > or = 80% adherence with PCP prophylaxis in the previous seven days. Seventy-nine percent of patients who reported taking daily sulfamethoxazole-trimethoprim had detectable urinary sulfamethoxazole. In multivariate analysis, > or = 80% adherence to antiretroviral therapy was associated with taking medication < or = twice a day (odds ratio [OR]=1.44; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.01, 1.96), being likely to take medication when not at home, (OR=1.41; 95% CI, 1.04, 2.00) and patients' belief in their ability to adhere to therapy (OR=1.57; 95% CI, 1.13, 2.17). For PCP prophylaxis, > or = 80% adherence was associated with presence of family (OR=2.39; 95% CI, 1.01, 5.63) and patients' belief in their ability to adhere to therapy (OR=2.87; 95% CI, 1.44-1.78). Sociodemographic characteristics and belief in the efficacy of medications were not associated with adherence. CONCLUSIONS: A relatively low level of adherence to antiretroviral therapy and PCP prophylactic regimens was found. Although our results are principally from patients receiving antiretroviral monotherapy, these findings may have important implications for patients receiving highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART). Decreasing the complexity of antiretroviral regimens, and working with patients to modify identified barriers to adherence may improve effectiveness of medications and prolong survival.

Clinical manifestations and risk factors of Pseudomonas aeruginosa infection in patients with AIDS.

Fifty-eight patients with human immunodeficiency virus infection were analyzed for clinical manifestations and potential risk factors for Pseudomonas aeruginosa infection by use of case-control methodology. Most had AIDS. Of 73 episodes of P. aeruginosa infection, 45 (62%) were bacteremias primarily associated with central venous catheters (16), pneumonia (12), soft tissue (4), or urinary tract infections (4). Twenty-eight episodes (38%) were nonbacteremic, with pneumonia (13), soft tissue infections (6), and sinusitis (4) accounting for the majority of infections. Fifty episodes (68%) were community-acquired. The recurrence rate was 23%. The overall mortality attributable to P. aeruginosa infection was 22%. Central venous and urinary catheter use and steroid therapy were significantly more frequent in cases than controls (P < .05). Thus, P. aeruginosa infection in patients with advanced human immunodeficiency virus disease is often community-acquired and associated with substantial mortality and, in some cases, specific risk factors.

Seroconversion, sexual activity, and condom use among 2915 HIV seronegative men followed for up to 2 years.

A cohort of 2915 HIV-1-seronegative men from the four centers of the Multicenter AIDS Cohort Study (MACS) was followed at 6 month intervals for 24 months to identify men who developed antibodies to HIV-1. Two hundred thirty-two men (8%) seroconverted. The highest attack rate was among men who reported practicing both receptive and insertive anal-genital intercourse. The attack rate among men who reported practicing receptive but not insertive intercourse was 3.6 times higher than among men practicing insertive intercourse although those practicing insertive only reported 38% more different partners. Only two men seroconverted who reported not practicing analgenital intercourse in the 12 month prior to the first antibody-positive visit. Because men were followed every 6 months, one of these men could have been infected within 6 months of the actual development of HIV-1 antibodies. The seroconversion rate was significantly lower among men who reported using condoms with all their partners. The results of this study (a) reaffirm that receptive anal-genital intercourse is the major route of infection among homosexual men of HIV-1, (b) suggest that there is a low risk of HIV-1 infection to the insertive partner in anal-genital intercourse, (c) suggest that infection may rarely occur through sexual activities other than anal-genital intercourse, (d) provide evidence that condoms as currently used by men in the MACS provide significant but not complete protection against HIV-1 infection, and (e) suggest that the number of men in the homosexual community engaging in high-risk behavior is declining.

Clinical manifestations of acute infection with human immunodeficiency virus in a cohort of gay men.

During a prospective study of the natural history of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection in a cohort of gay/bisexual men, information on self-reported symptoms lasting for 3 or more days during the previous 6 months was collected without knowledge of the subject's HIV serological status. Twenty-two people were retrospectively found to have seroconverted to HIV during the interval. Each seroconverter was matched to two seronegative and two seropositive controls. Matched case-control analyses using the seronegative controls determined that the following symptoms lasting for 3 or more days were associated with new HIV infection: fever greater than 37.7 degrees C, swollen lymph nodes, night sweats and headaches. Matched case-control analyses using the seropositive controls determined that the following symptoms lasting for 3 or more days were associated with new HIV infection: fatigue, fever greater than 37.7 degrees C, swollen lymph nodes, night sweats and headaches. It was notable that the majority of seroconversions were not associated with any symptoms lasting for 3 or more days. Due to their non-specificity, symptoms associated with seroconversion are not likely to have a high positive predictive value. In high risk populations, however, appearance of these symptoms may facilitate identification of early infection that may be important for studies of natural history or for optimal timing for initiating antiviral therapy.