Factors associated with mortality in HIV patients failing antiretroviral therapy, in Salvador, Brazil

Publication date: Available online 10 July 2019Source: The Brazilian Journal of Infectious DiseasesAuthor(s): Tatiana Haguihara, Márcio Oliveira da Silva, Monaliza Cardozo Rebouças, Eduardo Martins Netto, Carlos BritesAbstractHighly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) has significantly improved survival of people living with HIV/Aids (PLWHA). However, poor treatment adherence to HAART and other problems, still cause therapy failure and contribute to increased morbidity and mortality of PLWHA. In this retrospective cohort study (2013–2015), we sought to evaluate the factors associated with mortality of PLWHA failing HAART in 2013, who were receiving care at a reference center for sexually transmitted diseases (STD) and HIV/AIDS. A total of 165 individuals over 18 years of age who were failing antiretroviral therapy were evaluated. In two-year follow-up, 19 (11.5%) deaths were documented. There were a significant association between mortality and report of illicit drug use (53%, p < 0.01), being attended by a larger number of medical professionals (6.3 ± 3.2, p = 0.02), use of firstline non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (74%, p = 0.01), and history of interrupting HAART ≥3 months (90%), p = 0.02). Patients who died had a significantly higher viral load (mean 49,192.4 ± 35,783.6 copies/mL) than survivors (26,389.2 ± 27,416 copies/mm3, p < 0.01), lower mean CD4 cell counts (127.8 ± 145.6 cells/mm3 vs. 303.3â...
Source: The Brazilian Journal of Infectious Diseases - Category: Infectious Diseases Source Type: research