Quantifying the Effect of Delayed HIV Diagnosis on Life Expectancy

In a computer simulation model in which patients were assumed to start treatment according to current guidelines, life expectancy was projected to be 3 years longer for those diagnosed at a CD4 count around 400 cells/mm³ than for those diagnosed at a count closer to 150 cells/mm³.

Potent antiretroviral therapy (ART) has dramatically improved the prognosis of HIV-infected individuals. However, many patients still do not receive diagnoses until they have advanced disease, and the effect of such delayed diagnosis on life expectancy is not clear. In the present study, researchers used a computer simulation model to predict the life expectancy of patients who receive ART after being diagnosed at various stages of immunosuppression.

The population considered in the model consisted of men who have sex with men (MSM) in Europe. All were assumed to have been infected with drug-sensitive virus in 2010 at the age of 30, to have begun ART at CD4 counts <350 cells/mm³, and to have maintained relatively high adherence to therapy (>…

Reviewing Author

Carlos del Rio, MD

Quantifying the Effect of Delayed HIV Diagnosis on Life Expectancy

Topics

Reviewing Author