Effects of HIV Infection on Cognitive Function Among Women in the U.S.

In the U.S., poverty, low education level, depression, substance abuse, and other factors associated with an elevated risk for cognitive decline are common among women with HIV infection. Thus, understanding the effects of HIV on cognition in this group has been difficult. To shed light on this topic, investigators compared cognitive function between HIV-infected and demographically similar HIV-uninfected participants in the Women's Interagency HIV Study (n=1019 and 502, respectively). Cognition was assessed using a battery of tests validated for this purpose.

Compared with HIV-uninfected participants, HIV-infected participants were significantly older (mean, 47.5 vs. 43.5 years), more likely to be hepatitis virus–positive (31% vs. 19%), and…