title: HIV-1 disease progression and mortality before the introduction of highly active antiretroviral therapy in rural Uganda.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To provide estimates of survival and progression to different HIV disease endpoints after HIV infection among adults in a rural Ugandan setting.
  
  
  METHODS
  A prospective population-based cohort study.
  
  
  METHODS
  Eligible individuals at least 15 years of age with documented HIV seroconversion were recruited from a general population cohort in rural Uganda, along with a randomly selected proportion of HIV-prevalent and HIV-negative individuals. All participants were followed up every 3 months, and CD4 cell counts taken every 6 months in HIV-positive participants. Life tables and Kaplan-Meier functions were used to estimate survival patterns for all endpoints [death, time to World Health Organization (WHO) stage 2, 3, AIDS and CD4 cell count < 200 cells/mul]. Analysis of follow-up time was truncated when antiretroviral therapy (ART) became available in the area in January 2004.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We recruited 240 HIV incident cases, 108 prevalent cases and 257 HIV-negative controls. Crude mortality rates were 70.0 per 1000 person-years in HIV-positive, and 12.1 per 1000 person-years in HIV-negative individuals. The median time from seroconversion to death was 9.0 years (N = 240) and 6.2 years to a CD4 cell count less than 200 cells/mul or WHO stage 4 (N = 229). The median time from ART eligibility (CD4 cell count < 200 cells/mul, < 350 cells/mul and WHO stage 3, or WHO stage 4) to death was 34.7 months. Older age at seroconversion was a risk factor for faster progression to death and ART eligibility.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  HIV progression in this African cohort is similar to that reported in industrialized countries before the widespread introduction of ART.
authors.affiliation: MRC-UVRI Uganda Research Unit on AIDS, Entebbe, Uganda. lieve.vanderpaal@mrcuganda.org
authors.forename: Lieve
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Van der Paal
authors.forename: Leigh Anne
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Shafer
authors.forename: Jim
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Todd
authors.forename: Billy N
authors.initials: BN
authors.lastname: Mayanja
authors.forename: Jimmy A G
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Whitworth
authors.forename: Heiner
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Grosskurth
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D023241:Antiretroviral Therapy, Highly Active / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D018791:CD4 Lymphocyte Count / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D018450:Disease Progression; D004812:Epidemiologic Methods; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000401:mortality*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012423:Rural Health; D014454:Uganda / Q000453:epidemiology; D014944:World Health Organization