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To determine whether immediate or deferred antiretroviral therapy (ART) had a more favorable impact on quality of life in persons with early asymptomatic HIV infection, investigators conducted an international randomized study (START) involving 4561 healthy, ART-naive HIV patients with CD4 cell counts above 500 cells/µL.
Patients were randomized to receive either immediate ART or ART that was deferred until CD4 count fell below 350 cells/µL or until an AIDS-related condition requiring ART was diagnosed. Quality of life (QOL) was assessed using data from two patient questionnaires completed at baseline, 4 months, 12 months, and annually thereafter: the single-item visual analog scale and the Short Form 12-Item Health Survey, which included ph…