Risk Factors for Early Mortality on Antiretroviral Treatment of Elderly People Infected with HIV in Burkina Faso

Background: Age is a key determinant of mortality due to diseases including HIV infection.

Methods: A retrospective and descriptive cohort study used a computerized database to compare HIV-infected patients diagnosed in late adulthood to a group of patients diagnosed before their 49 years of age, without matching the characteristics of HIV infection. The study included patients who visited the day hospital (outpatient clinic) of the Sanou Souro Teaching Hospital of Bobo-Dioulasso, in Burkina Faso, from January 2007 to December 2011. Older adults were defined as those aged 50 years and more.

Results: Participants in the study consisted of 2572 patients (265 older adults and 2307 young patients living with HIV. Based on Markov chain method, 32.1% of the older adults living with HIV were found to be seroconvert at 50 years or older. The median follow-up time on antiretroviral treatment (ART) was 32.7 months (range 0.03-65.4 months). Two hundred and ninety-five (11.5%) patients died, including 21.1% of older adults and 10.4% of young (P < .01). World Health Organization stage 3 or 4 and the lowest CD4 count reached <200 cells/mm(3) were the factors associated with early mortality of older adults on ART.

Conclusion: Mortality rate of older adult patients living with HIV in Burkina Faso is high. Early diagnosis, early treatment, and primary prevention of HIV infection in the older adults are the main keys that could help reduce such mortality.