Table 1.

Characteristics of groups included in this study.

Characteristic	LTEC (n = 22)	onART (n = 15)	offART (n = 10)	UC (n = 20)	p-Value
Age (years)	44 [35–49]	44 [42–49]	43 [36–49]	43 [36–49]	0.266
Sex (% of males)	59 *	80	100	50 *	0.025
Years since HIV diagnosis	15 * [6–20]	12 [5–15]	5 [3–9]	NA	0.027
Years as EC	13 [7–16]	NA	NA	NA	NA
Years on ART	NA	6 [3–9]	NA	NA	NA
Plasma HIV load (copies/mL)	50	50	57,937 [28,817–80,676]	NA	NA
CD4 count (cells/μL)	837 [603–1210]	820 [599–1127]	625 [518–920]	NA	0.200

Data are given as median [Q1–Q3], except sex that is expressed as a percentage. Statistical differences between the four study groups were tested by Kruskal-Wallis test for continuous variables and by Chi-square test for sex. Statistical significance was considered for p-values below 0.05 (in bold in the table). NA: not appicable. An asterisk denotes statistically significant differences (p < 0.05) with respect to the offART group.