Causes of death in HIV-infected women: persistent role of AIDS. The 'Mortalité 2000 & 2005' Surveys (ANRS EN19)

Int J Epidemiol. 2010 Feb;39(1):135-46. doi: 10.1093/ije/dyp300. Epub 2009 Oct 5.

Abstract

Background: Little is known about the causes of death in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected women in the era of combination antiretroviral therapy (ART).

Methods: In the French nationwide Mortalité 2000 and 2005 surveys, physicians reported causes of deaths in HIV-infected adults in 2000 and 2005, using a standardized questionnaire. We used multivariate logistic regression models to study the association between gender and AIDS-defining causes of death, adjusting for other characteristics.

Results: Of the 1013 HIV-infected adults who died in 2005, 247 (24%) were women. Half of women were infected through heterosexual contacts, compared with 25% men. In 2005, the proportion of AIDS-defining causes of death was higher in women than in men (43 vs 34%; P = 0.01), whereas it had been the same in 2000 (47% in women and men). In 2005, women died less frequently than men from respiratory malignancies (lung, ear/nose/throat) and cardiovascular disease (9% of all causes of death in women compared with 16% in men; P = 0.004), and suicides or accidents (4 vs 9%; P = 0.02). Socio-economic precariousness, younger age, less alcohol and tobacco consumption and lack of prior ART explained the higher proportion of deaths from AIDS in women compared with men.

Conclusions: The higher proportion of AIDS-related deaths in women is probably explained by two factors: (i) some HIV-infected women, especially migrants in poor socio-economic conditions, may not have access to optimal care; and (ii) a lower prevalence of risk factors for respiratory, cardiovascular and violent deaths means that the risk of dying from non-AIDS causes may be lower in women.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome / epidemiology
  • Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome / mortality
  • Adult
  • Age Factors
  • Alcohol Drinking
  • Cause of Death
  • Comorbidity
  • Female
  • HIV Infections / epidemiology*
  • HIV Infections / mortality
  • Health Surveys
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Risk Factors
  • Sex Factors
  • Smoking
  • Socioeconomic Factors
  • Time Factors