Survival and its influencing factors among adult AIDS patients with antiviral therapy

Objective To examine the survival and its influencing factors among adult AIDS patients with antiviral therapy and to provide references to improve living conditions of AIDS patients.Methods Medical records of 152 AIDS patients aged 18 years and above with antiviral therapy in General Hospital of Ningxia Medical University from September 2006 through September 2010 were extracted and the survival of the patients during the observation period was analyzed.Multivariate Cox proportional hazard regression model was applied to analyze factors influencing the survival of the patients.Results Of all the patients,102 (67.11%) were still under the antiviral therapy,7 (4.61%) were lost to the follow-up,10 (6.58%) were transferred to other medical institutions,5 (3.29%) ended antiviral therapy,and 28 (18.42%) were dead by the end of the follow-up on September 30,2015.Among all the dead cases,21 (75.00%) died of AIDS and 7 (25.00%) died of other causes;for the 21 cases died of AIDS,11 (52.38%),7 (33.33%),and 3 (14.29%) had the antiviral treatment duration of less than one year,2 to 3 years,and 4 to 5 years,respectively.The results of multivariate Cox proportional hazard regression analysis showed that at the age 30 years or older,with the stage III or higher World Health Organization (WHO) clinical classification,infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) via heterosexual or homosexual behaviors were risk factors for mortality,whereas with the CD4⁺ cell count of more than 200/μL and with the therapeutic regimen of two or more antiviral drugs were protective factors of mortality among the adult AIDS patients.Conclusion Age,route of HIV infection,CD4⁺ cell count,antiviral treatment regimen,and WHO clinical stage are main influencing factors of survival among adult AIDS patients with antiviral therapy.