Epidemiological, Clinical-Immunological, Mortality and Trend Profile in Geriatric Patients with HIV/AIDS

Abstract

Introduction: Currently, the number of elderly people with HIV/AIDS is recognized to be increasing, because they are unaware of their serological status, which leads to late diagnosis of the disease and the appearance of opportunistic diseases with unfavorable prognosis. Factors such as low perception of risk at these ages, together with the fact that the elderly are less tested and, consequently, are unaware of their carrier status, make this damage a health problem to be prioritized by the Cuban state.

Objective: To characterize HIV/AIDS infection in geriatric persons living with acquired immunodeficiency virus, according to epidemiological, clinical-immunological, mortality and damage trend characteristics.

Methods: An observational, descriptive and cross-sectional study was conducted in the province of Santiago de Cuba, with a longitudinal strategy, to characterize geriatric patients living with HIV/AIDS according to the different selected domains, in the period from January 2017 to December 2021.

Results: The first years accumulated the highest percentages of the older adult population affected by HIV/AIDS. Single elderlies (78.5 %) with homosexual sexual orientation predominated. Pneumoniasis and oral candidiasis were the most represented clinical entities. The viral load exceeded four million copies per milliliter at all the evolutionary moments. In the five-year period, 60 elderly patients died, which evidenced an upward trend of the disease.

Conclusions: There is a risk of HIV/AIDS transmission in geriatric people living with HIV/AIDS, with a substantial and sustained upward trend of incidence in the last decades, the difference being expressed by cases with clinical debut. Low mortality due to the disease is observed, probably associated to timely health care from the community and to the effectiveness of the different treatment schemes used in comprehensive patient care.