Table 1.
Patient characteristics at highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) initiation by country income
| Low income [n (%)] | High income [n (%)] | |
|---|---|---|
| Age (years) at entry | ||
| Median (range) | 35.5 (6.8–70.9) | 37.7 (18.6–81.6) |
| < 30 years | 292 (20.4) | 163 (18.0) |
| 30–40 years | 709 (49.6) | 371 (41.0) |
| >40 years | 420 (29.4) | 371 (41.0) |
| Unknown | 7 (0.5) | - |
| Gender | ||
| Male | 926 (64.8) | 722 (79.8) |
| Female | 500 (35.0) | 182 (20.1) |
| Transgender | 2 (0.1) | 1 (0.1) |
| HIV exposure | ||
| Heterosexual contact | 1138 (79.7) | 510 (56.4) |
| Homosexual contact | 64 (4.5) | 333 (36.8) |
| Other* | 226 (15.8) | 62 (6.9) |
| CDC classification | ||
| Category A | 548 (38.4) | 512 (56.6) |
| Category B | 219 (15.3) | 37 (4.1) |
| Category C | 661 (46.3) | 356 (39.3) |
| Hepatitis B | ||
| Negative | 386 (27.0) | 528 (58.3) |
| Positive | 50 (3.5) | 53 (5.9) |
| Not tested | 992 (69.5) | 324 (35.8) |
| Hepatitis C | ||
| Negative | 286 (20.0) | 544 (60.1) |
| Positive | 61 (4.3) | 35 (3.9) |
| Not tested | 1081 (75.7) | 326 (36.0) |
| First HAART regimen† | ||
| NNRTI‡ | 1296 (90.8) | 569 (62.9) |
| PI | 120 (8.4) | 276 (30.5) |
| NNRTI/PI | 10 (0.7) | 45 (5.0) |
| NRTI | 2 (0.1) | 15 (1.7) |
| Baseline HIV-1 viral load§ (copies/mL) | ||
| Median (range) | 125 399 (49–6531 200) | 97 600 (49–1100 000) |
| < 10 000 copies/mL | 41 (2.9) | 81 (9.0) |
| ≥ 10 000 | 201 (14.1) | 378 (41.8) |
| Unknown | 1186 (83.1) | 446 (49.3) |
| Baseline CD4 count∥ (cells/μL) | ||
| Median (range) | 91 (0–886) | 131 (0–922) |
| ≤ 100 cells/μL | 554 (38.8) | 260 (28.7) |
| 100–200 cells/μL | 287 (20.1) | 178 (19.7) |
| > 200 cells/μL | 193 (13.5) | 176 (19.4) |
| Unknown | 394 (27.6) | 291 (32.2) |
| Total | 1428 (61.2) | 905 (38.8) |
The HIV exposure category `Other' includes injecting drug users (IDUs), patients infected by blood products and unknown exposures.
HAART was a combination of three or more antiretrovirals (ARVs) with or without an NRTI backbone. NNRTI/PI included at least one PI and one NNRTI. PI included ritonavir-boosted regimens.
Of the NNRTI regimens, lamivudine/stavudine/nevirapine and lamivudine/zidovudine/efavirenz were the most frequently prescribed for low (58%)- and high (41%)-income countries, respectively.
Dichotomized for country income comparison.
`Unknown' category excluded for test of trend. CDC, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; NRTI, nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor; NNRTI, nonnucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor; PI, protease inhibitor.