A comparison of the sociodemographic, risk-behavior, and substance-abuse profile of young vs older HIV-infected Puerto Rican patients.
BACKGROUND
As of May 2003, 17% of all reported AIDS cases in Puerto Rico had occurred among those 20-29 years of age. These individuals were likely initially infected with HIV in adolescence. The objectives of this study are to describe and compare the prevalence of the sociodemographic, risk-behavior, and substance-use profile among patients infected with HIV during their adolescence (early) and compare them with patients infected at an older age (non-early).


METHODS
This is a cross-sectional study of 3151 HIV/AIDS patients admitted to the retrovirus research center of our institution between 1992 and 2002. The variables we studied include the presence or absence of early infection, sociodemographic variables, risk-behavior variables, and substance-use variables. An early-infected patient was defined as a patient with HIV/AIDS that reported his or her first positive HIV test result before the age of 21 years. Descriptive and differential analyses were performed.


RESULTS
Five percent of our patients were early-infected (157/3151). A significantly higher proportion (P < or = .05) among the early-infected patients as compared to the older group was females, required inpatient hospital care at the time of study entry, and had less than a 12th-grade education. In the interview a significantly higher proportion had antisocial behavior, had been in prison at some point in their life, and had used crack-cocaine.


CONCLUSIONS
The early HIV-infected patients showed a different sociodemographic, risk-behavior, and substance-use profile. Knowledge of the specific characteristics of early HIV-infected patients could be used to develop primary prevention programs directed toward reducing HIV infection among young Puerto Ricans.
Fernández
Diana M
DM
Retrovirus Research Center, Internal Medicine Department, Universidad Central del Caribe, Bayamon, Puerto Rico. dfernandez@uccaribe.edu
Gómez
María de los A
Mde L
Figueroa
Wanda
W
Velázquez
Miriam
M
Báez
Doris V
DV
Ríos-Olivares
Eddy
E
Hunter
Robert F
RF
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011647:Puerto Rico; D012309:Risk-Taking; D012923:Social Class; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology*