Epidemiological characteristics of HIV infected Korean: Korea HIV/AIDS Cohort Study
Authors
Yunsu Choi ; Bo Youl Choi ; Soo Min Kim ; Sang Il Kim ; June Kim ; Jun Young Choi ; Shin-Woo Kim ; Joon Young Song ; Youn Jeong Kim ; Dae Won Park ; Hyo Youl Kim ; Hee-Jung Choi ; Mee-Kyung Kee ; Young Hyun Shin ; Myeongsu Yoo
Citation
EPIDEMIOLOGY AND HEALTH, Vol.41 : e2019037, 2019-01
AIDS-Related Opportunistic Infections / epidemiology ; Adolescent ; Adult ; Antiretroviral Therapy, Highly Active / statistics & numerical data ; Cohort Studies ; Female ; HIV Infections / drug therapy ; HIV Infections / epidemiology* ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Republic of Korea / epidemiology ; Risk Factors ; Young Adult
Keywords
AIDS-related opportunistic infections ; Antiretroviral therapy highly active ; Communicable diseases ; HIV
Abstract
Objectives: To manage evidence-based diseases, it is important to identify the characteristics of patients in each country.
Methods: The Korea HIV/AIDS Cohort Study seeks to identify the epidemiological characteristics of 1,442 Korean individuals with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection (12% of Korean individuals with HIV infection in 2017) who visited 21 university hospitals nationwide. The descriptive statistics were presented using the Korea HIV/AIDS cohort data (2006-2016).
Results: Men accounted for 93.3% of the total number of respondents, and approximately 55.8% of respondents reported having an acute infection symptom. According to the transmission route, infection caused by sexual contact accounted for 94.4%, of which 60.4% were caused by sexual contact with the same sex or both males and females. Participants repeatedly answered the survey to decrease depression and anxiety scores. Of the total participants, 89.1% received antiretroviral therapy (ART). In the initial ART, 95.3% of patients were treated based on the recommendation. The median CD4 T-cell count at the time of diagnosis was 229.5 and improved to 331 after the initial ART. Of the patients, 16.6% and 9.4% had tuberculosis and syphilis, respectively, and 26.7% had pneumocystis pneumonia. In the medical history, sexually transmitted infectious diseases showed the highest prevalence, followed by endocrine diseases. The main reasons for termination were loss to follow-up (29.9%) and withdrawal of consent (18.7%).
Conclusions: Early diagnosis and ART should be performed at an appropriate time to prevent the development of new infection.