Survival time and related factors among 469 AIDS cases in Wuhan city

ObjectiveTo analyze the survival time and related factors of AIDS cases in Wuhan city,Hubei province. MethodsA retrospective cohort study was conducted to analyze the survival time and related factors among 469 AIDS cases.Kaplan-Meier method was used to describe the survival distribution and life table was applied to calculate the survival proportion.Cox proportional hazard model was performed to identify the factors associated with survival. ResultsThe deaths were mainly due to AIDS.For the 469 cases,the average observation time was 23.54±26.99 months.The total mortality was 12.05/1 000 person-months and AIDS related mortality was 9.51/1 000 person-months.The average survival time was 82.85 months(95% confidence interval 95%CI=77.59-88.10 months)with a 9-year survival rate of 65.21% by the end of the observation.Univariate analysis presented a significant difference (P<0.05) in average survival time of the AIDS patients based on age at diagnosis,education,transmission category,and under highly active antiretroviral therapy(HAART).Results from multivariate Cox regression showed that injection drug users and men who have sex with men were at a lower risk of death after AIDS diagnosis(hazard ratio HR=0.318,95%CI=0.132-0.762; HR=0.335,95%CI=0.115-0.969)compared to those with infection route of blood transfusion or blood products.HAART reduced substantially the risk of death(HR=0.022,95%CI=0.011-0.043). ConclusionThe survival time of the AIDS patients varied in transmission categories.HAART is an effective approach to prolong survival of AIDS patients which should be more available and earlier to start.