Fernandes JE, Mobin, Betsy M and Sheethal NK
Objective: The wide access of antiretroviral treatment has led to an increase in the number of people living with HIV who aged 50 or older. This study aims to understand the clinical profile of HIV/AIDS in older adults thereby attempting to close the knowledge gap that prevents early detection and prompt therapy in this particular age group. Materials and methods: A total of 41 patients’ ≥ 50 years of age admitted to medical wards of a tertiary care centre diagnosed to have HIV infection were included in this prospective cross-sectional study. Results: Majority of the patients belonged to the age group of 50-55 years with a male: female ratio of 2.15:1. Ninety percent were married with good family support and reported adherence to drug regimens. 68% of males had multiple sexual partners. Most of the patients belonged to a low socioeconomic status, were illiterate and had no knowledge of the disease prior to initial diagnosis. Fever and weight loss were the commonly reported symptoms and pallor, generalized lymphadenopathy and hepatosplenomegaly were the common signs at presentation. Twenty patients were newly diagnosed with AIDS. The mean CD4 count in treatment naïve and treatment experienced patients were 159.03 cells/μl and 265.13 cells/μl respectively. In our study population, 32 subjects presented two or more concurrent opportunistic infections at clinical presentation. Conclusion: HIV awareness programs must be directed to include not only high risk groups and young adults but also the elderly and women, especially those of poor socioeconomic strata.
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