title: Course of HIV disease does not depend on risk group: 7.5-year follow-up in 296 patients.
abstract: Several reports on the course and progression of HIV infection with regard to the mode of transmission have yielded different results. Since comparative studies of homosexuals and intravenous drug abusers are rare, we wanted to determine the course of HIV infection and survival in an HIV-seropositive patient cohort in a retrospective study at a single tertiary care referral centre. Two hundred and ninety-six HIV patients infected by one of the three predominant modes of HIV transmission (male homosexual contact, n = 193; injecting drug use, n = 64; or heterosexual contact, n = 39) were analysed. Using multivariate Cox regression analysis the overall survival did not depend on the patient's risk group. However, with regard to antiretroviral therapy, monotherapy was shown to shorten patients' lives, whereas only triple-therapy led to prolonged survival, when treatment usage was incorporated as a time-updated covariate. The course of HIV disease in a cohort study outside of clinical trials seems not to depend on the mode of transmission.
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology and Venerology, University of Essen, Hufelandstrasse 55, 45122 Essen, Germany. ulrich.hengge@uni-duesseldorf.de
authors.forename: Ulrich R
authors.initials: UR
authors.lastname: Hengge
authors.forename: Barbara
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Franz
authors.forename: Silke
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hoersch
authors.forename: Manfred
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Goos
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D023241:Antiretroviral Therapy, Highly Active; D018791:CD4 Lymphocyte Count; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D005858:Germany / Q000453:epidemiology; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000401:mortality* / Q000635:transmission*; D006801:Humans; D007958:Leukocyte Count; D008297:Male; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012307:Risk Factors; D012514:Sarcoma, Kaposi / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology; D012725:Sexual Behavior / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D015819:Substance Abuse, Intravenous / Q000453:epidemiology*; D016019:Survival Analysis