Men More Likely Than Women to Die While on ART

Previous studies of HIV-infected individuals receiving antiretroviral therapy (ART) in sub-Saharan Africa have shown higher mortality among men than women. Now, researchers have evaluated the magnitude and predictors of this difference among 46,201 treatment-naive adults (65% female) who started ART in South Africa between 2002 and 2009. Total follow-up time was nearly 78,000 person-years.

At ART initiation, men were older than women (38 vs. 33), had lower median CD4 counts (85 vs. 110 cells/mm³) and were more likely to have advanced HIV disease (86% vs. 77%). During 36 months of follow-up, mortality was significantly higher among men than women (hazard ratio, 1.5), and this difference persisted even after adjustment for age, baseline CD4-ce…