Table 1. Baseline characteristics of older people enrolling for ART at Newlands Clinic (N = 420).
| Characteristic | Frequency (%)‡ | p-Value (chi2 test) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Female | Male | Total | ||
| n = 241 (57.4) | n = 179 (42.6) | |||
| Age at ART commencement, median (IQR) | 54 (52–59) | 55 (52–60) | 55 (52–59) | 0.241§ |
| Marital Status | <0.001 | |||
| Married | 58 (24.1) | 152 (84.9) | 210 (50.0) | |
| Single | 26 (10.8) | 4 (2.2) | 30 (7.1) | |
| Divorced | 29 (12.0) | 8 (4.5) | 37 (8.8) | |
| Widowed | 125 (51.9) | 15 (8.4) | 140 (33.3) | |
| Unknown | 3 (1.2) | 0 | 3 (0.7) | |
| Employment Status | <0.001 | |||
| Formally Employed | 61 (26.5) | 78 (45.1) | 139 (34.5) | |
| Self-employed | 3 (1.3) | 11 (6.4) | 14 (3.5) | |
| Retired | 5 (2.2) | 9 (5.2) | 14 (3.5) | |
| Unemployed | 161 (70.0) | 75 (43.4) | 236 (58.6) | |
| Education | 0.007 | |||
| None | 31 (12.9) | 12 (6.7) | 43 (10.2) | |
| Primary | 84 (34.9) | 44 (24.6) | 128 (30.5) | |
| Secondary | 89 (36.9) | 86 (48.0) | 175 (41.7) | |
| Tertiary | 37 (15.4) | 37 (20.7) | 74 (17.6) | |
| WHO stage† | 0.727 | |||
| 1 | 81 (33.9) | 51 (29.1) | 132 (31.9) | |
| 2 | 67 (28.0) | 49 (28.0) | 116 (28.0) | |
| 3 | 64 (26.8) | 52 (29.7) | 116 (28.0) | |
| 4 | 27 (11.3) | 23 (13.1) | 50 (12.1) | |
| CD4 T-cell count (cells/μL), median (IQR) | 0.045 | |||
| Overall | 171 (89–291) | 144 (79–236) | 158 (86–275) | |
| 2004–2010 | 139 (70–198) | 120 (63–181) | 127 (67–191) | |
| 2011–2015 | 221 (97–323) | 181 (97–287) | 199 (97–305) | |
| 2016–2020 | 238 (122–485) | 124 (84–305) | 196 (102–393) | |
| Log viral load (copies/ml), mean± SD | 4.3 ± 1.3 | 4.8 ± 1.3 | 4.5 ± 1.3 | 0.031₤ |
| Comorbidities | ||||
| Diabetes | 8 (3.3) | 9 (5.0) | 17 (4.0) | 0.380 |
| Hypertension | 43 (17.8) | 18 (10.1) | 61 (14.5) | 0.025 |
| Chronic Cardiac Failure | 3 (1.2) | 0 | 3 (0.7) | - |
| Arthritis | 1 (0.4) | 2 (1.1) | 3 (0.7) | 0.398 |
| Malignancies | 2 (0.8) | 1 (0.6) | 3 (0.7) | 0.744 |
| Chronic Kidney Disease | 1 (0.4) | 2 (1.1) | 3 (0.7) | 0.398 |
‡Unless otherwise specified
†414 patients had a recorded baseline WHO stage
₤148 patients had baseline HIV viral load, difference calculated by t-test
§Wilcoxon Rank-Sum test