Clinical profile of HIV/AIDS in geriatric patients seeking ART – A Longitudinal study

Aim: To study the clinical profile of HIV/AIDS in geriatric patients seeking ART. Material and Methods: This study was conducted in District Hospital, Belgaum. Information, which was collected from 372 HIV/AIDS patients seeking ART during the period of January and February 2010 and were followed up for one year using predesigned, pretested questionnaire with their informed written consent. Results: Out of 372 patients followed only 2.1% were more than 65 years. Majority were male and belonged to low socioeconomic status and were illiterates. 37.5% presented with opportunistic infections and all of them were tuberculosis patients who were ambulatory. With Wilcoxon Sign Rank test improvement in baseline to 1st visit CD4 count (p=0.075) and baseline to 2nd visit CD4 count (p=0.043) was statistically significant. One death was reported during the study period. Almost half of them had side effects to ART. One patient stopped ART voluntarily. Conclusion: Treatment was delayed even though patients were diagnosed earlier. Tuberculosis was the most common HIV co- infection seen. Prognosis was good with improvement in CD4 count and with good adherence to ART. Dropouts should be identified early and reasons for dropouts need to be studied. Keywords: HIV/AIDS, Geriatric patients