[Are we diagnosing people infected with HIV in time?].
OBJECTIVE
To describe the number of AIDS cases who did not know of their HIV infection until they developed AIDS, and the factors relating to this situation.


METHODS
Descriptive study of data of the National AIDS Register.Setting. Spain.Patients. Cases of AIDS in the over-14s diagnosed between 1997 and 1999.


RESULTS
Of the 6910 cases of AIDS studied, 35% (n = 2421) knew that they were HIV-positive at the same time as they were diagnosed with AIDS (in the same month or the previous one). The multi-variate analysis showed that this situation occurred less commonly in women (OR = 0.61; 95% CI, 0.53-0.71), in cases diagnosed in prison (OR = 0.19; 95% CI, 0.13-0.27), in cases diagnosed early (OR = 0.49; 95% CI, 0.41-0.60) and among residents in provinces with AIDS rates higher than the Spanish average (OR = 0.88; 95% CI, 0.78-0.99). Ignorance of HIV infection until the AIDS diagnosis was associated to ages of under 25 and over 34, homo/bisexual transmission (OR = 3.20; 95% CI, 2.69-3.80) and heterosexual transmission (OR = 4.88; 95% CI, 4.21-5.65) compared with intravenous drug users, and to the person coming from countries other than Spain, both developed (OR = 2.78; 95% CI, 1.89-4.08) and under-developed (OR = 1.85; 95% CI, 1.26-2.72) countries.


CONCLUSIONS
A considerable number of people diagnosed with AIDS were unaware of their HIV infection, especially among people who had never injected drugs. HIV needs to be diagnosed earlier so as to improve prevention and treatments.
Castilla
J
J
Secretaría del Plan Nacional sobre Sida, Ministerio de Sanidad y Consumo, Madrid, Spain. jcastill@isciii.is
Noguer
I
I
Belza
M J
MJ
del Amo
J
J
Sánchez
F
F
Guerra
L
L
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000175:diagnosis*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D013997:Time Factors