Table 1.
Baseline characteristics of AIDS patients with and without chronic diarrhea, Haiti*
| Characteristic | Chronic diarrhea (n = 288) |
No diarrhea (n = 400) |
P |
|---|---|---|---|
| Age, years, no. (%) | |||
| 18–29 | 44 (15) | 46 (12) | |
| 30–39 | 114 (40) | 148 (37) | |
| 40–49 | 88 (31) | 148 (37) | 0.251 |
| 50–59 | 30 (10) | 47 (12) | |
| > 60 | 11 (4) | 10 (3) | |
| Female, no. (%) | 144 (50) | 223 (56) | 0.136 |
| Earn < $1.00/day, no. (%) | 155 (44) | 223 (56) | 0.616 |
| Educational level, no. (%) | |||
| None | 53 (18) | 60 (15) | |
| Primary | 87 (30) | 125 (31) | 0.716 |
| Secondary | 131 (46) | 180 (45) | |
| University | 15 (5) | 24 (6) | |
| AIDS-defining illness,† no. (%) | 202 (70) | 90 (22) | < 0.001 |
| Tuberculosis at ART start, no. (%) | 22 (8) | 31 (8) | 0.748 |
| Tuberculosis after ART start, no. (%) | 16 (6) | 19 (5) | 0.796 |
| Body weight, kg | |||
| Men | |||
| Median | 55.2 | 58.2 | 0.004 |
| Interquartile range | 47.7–61.3 | 51.9–64.8 | |
| Women | |||
| Median | 48.6 | 52.9 | < 0.001 |
| Interquartile range | 41.8–53.2 | 45.5–58.9 | |
| Low body weight,‡ no. (%) | 89 (31) | 77 (19) | < 0.001 |
| CD4 T cells/mm3 | |||
| Median | 106 | 131 | 0.005 |
| Interquartile range | 21–161 | 38–204 | |
| Hemoglobin level, g/dL | |||
| Median | 10.5 | 10.5 | 0.737 |
| Interquartile range | 9.2–11.6 | 9.3–11.6 | |
| Initial ART regimen, no. (%) | |||
| Zidovudine, lamivudine, efavirenz | 145 (51) | 195 (49) | |
| Zidovudine, lamivudine, nevirapine | 118 (41) | 170 (43) | 0.939 |
| Other | 24 (8) | 35 (8) |
*
AIDS = acquired immunodeficiency syndrome; ART = antiretroviral therapy.
†
Defined by the World Health Organization.
‡
Defined as a weight below the 25% quartile for all patients in the study stratified by sex.