Sociodemographic and clinical profile of HIV/AIDS patients in Upper Egypt: A multi-center study

Abstract

Background: Despite the global increase in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) prevalence, there is little knowledge regarding the nature of the HIV clinical profile and patients' sociodemographic characteristics in Upper Egypt. This study aimed to describe the sociodemographic and clinical profile of HIV-infected patients registered in treatment centers in Upper Egypt over the past 7 years. Methods: Data were collected from the available medical records for 650 patients at the three main HIV healthcare centers in Upper Egypt from January 2015 until December 2021. The collected sociodemographic variables included age, sex, occupation, educational level, residence, and risk factors. In addition, clinical examination data, treatment regimens, laboratory investigations, and outcome data were obtained. Results: The study found that most patients (85.5%) were male, with ages ranging from 3 to 78 years and a median age of 33. Intravenous drug use (44.5%) was the most common transmission route, and fever (84.3%) was the most frequently reported symptom. Pneumonia (24.3%) was the most registered opportunistic infection. Median CD4 cell counts were 299 cells/mm3 before treatment and 366 cells/mm3 after treatment. PCR values were available for 631 patients (97%), with viremia evident in 630 patients (99.8%) before treatment. 73.2% of patients showed improvement in outcomes, while 8.3% died. Conclusion: The current study findings provide relevant information for the National AIDS Program (NAP) to design HIV education messages and apply preventive measures accordingly.