Trends in causes of death in the Aquitaine cohort of HIV-infected patients, 1995–1997

Objective:To describe trends in the evolution of causes of death in a cohort of HIV-infected patients before and after the introduction of highly active antiretroviral treatment (HAART). Methods:This descriptive study concerned all the patients of the Aquitaine cohort who died between 1995 and 1997. Causes of deaths were grouped into 13 `deaths due to an AIDS-defining underlying cause', and eight `non AIDS' categories. Comparisons were performed between two comparable periods of 18 months, January 1995–June 1996 and July 1996–December 1997 to focus on changes introduced by the prescription of HAART in June 1996. Results:Five hundred and thirty-two deaths were notified in 36 months for a total of 3687 patients. The comparison between causes of deaths before and after June 1996 showed a significant difference between the two periods with a decreasing proportion of AIDS causes of death, from 82.7% to 72.2% (p = 0.007). Conclusion:HAART treatment has reduced the number and percentage of deaths due to AIDS-related causes among persons who died with HIV infection in South-western France.