Table 1. Characteristics of the study sample.
| Treatment-naïve patients (n = 52) | Treatment-experienced patients (n = 279) | ||
| Age, years | 35 (28–42) | 44 (40–50) | |
| Male,% | 85 | 83 | |
| Infection route,% | |||
| Injecting drug user | 4 | 21 | |
| Heterosexual | 15 | 19 | |
| Men who have sex with men | 65 | 48 | |
| Other | 4 | 1 | |
| Unknown | 12 | 11 | |
| Education, years | 12 (10–15) | 12 (8–15) | |
| Time since HIV diagnosis, years | 1 (0–3) | 11 (6–17) | |
| On ART,% | - | 100 | |
| Time on treatment, years | - | 8 (3–12) | |
| Time on current regimen, months | - | 12 (0–24) | |
| Previous ART interruptions,% a | - | 36 | |
| CD4 cell count, cells/µL | 437 (292–693) | 539 (383–737) | |
| Nadir CD4 cell count, cells/µL | 416 (232–597) | 189 (87–313) | |
| Plasma viral load, copies/mL | 17,000 (4,950–61,250) | 50 (50–50) | |
| Undetectable viral load,% b | 5 | 86 | |
| Past highest viral load, copies/mL | 41,000 (5,861–132,500) | 92,500 (17,000–240,000) | |
| Coinfection with HCV,% | 9 | 24 | |
| Standardized depression score c | 52 (42–58) | 48 (37–57) | |
| Standardized anxiety score d | 52 (41–59) | 48 (40–57) | |
| Standardized premorbid intelligence score e | 53 (43–60) | 56 (50–60) | |
| Neurocognitive impairment,% | 40 | 50 | |
| HAND,% f | |||
| ANI | 50 | 53 | |
| MND | 50 | 46 | |
| HAD | 0 | 1 | |
| Cognitive complaints,% f | 52 | 53 | |
| Potential confounding comorbidities,% g | 32 | 39 |
Data expressed as median (interquartile range), except when indicated otherwise.
Standardized scores are adjusted for age, gender and education, according to available normative data.
Abbreviations: ANI, asymptomatic neurocognitive impairment; ART, antiretroviral therapy; HAD, HIV-associated dementia; HAND, HIV-associated neurocognitive disorder; HCV, hepatitis C virus; MND, mild neurocognitive disorder.
aART interruption defined as discontinuing therapy>15 days at any time for any reason in the past.
bUndetectable at ≤40 copies/mL level.
cDepression scores based on the Beck Depression Inventory test.
dAnxiety scores based on the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory.
ePremorbid intelligence scores based on the Vocabulary test from the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-III.
fFrom patients with neurocognitive impairment.
gPotential confounding comorbidities defined as lifetime or current diagnosis of a psychiatric disorder, receiving psychopharmacologic therapy, drug or alcohol abuse, and prior or current CNS-related disease.