[Sex differences in disease course: analysis of the Swiss HIV cohort study].
The Swiss HIV Cohort Study (SHCS) is a prospective multicentre study of HIV-infected adults. Participants have been followed up at six-monthly intervals since 1988. The purpose of the present study was to examine sex differences in developing AIDS-defining events and in survival among participants of the SHCS (1042 women, 1507 men). A statistically significant higher risk of Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia (PCP) was evident among women. This difference was particularly pronounced in 1989 (hazard ratio 2.11, p = 0.01). Other opportunistic events and survival showed no statistically significant sex differences. The results are compatible with slower introduction of PCP prophylaxis among women. A reason for this may be that women were less likely to be enrolled in clinical trials than men. This hypothesis will be examined in a further study.
Schmid
M
M
Koordinationsstelle Gesundheit von Frauen, Zürich, Institut für Sozial- und Präventivmedizin, Universität Zürich.
Twisselmann
W
W
Jacquat
B J
BJ
Ledergerber
B
B
Battegay
M
M
Egger
M
M
D017088:AIDS-Related Opportunistic Infections / Q000517:prevention & control*; D000328:Adult; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003627:Data Interpretation, Statistical; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000188:drug therapy*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011020:Pneumonia, Pneumocystis / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000517:prevention & control; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012737:Sex Factors; D013557:Switzerland