Effectiveness of antiviral treatment among HIV/AIDS patients aged above 50 years in Shandong Province

Objective To analyze the results of antiretroviral therapy among HIV/AIDS patients aged above 50 years in Shandong Province. Methods A face-to-face interview was conducted to collect baseline and after treatment data among HIV/AIDS patients aged above 50 years who started antiretroviral therapy in Shandong province during 2003 to 2014. The CD4⁺T cell count and viral load were analyzed to evaluate the effect of antiretroviral therapy. Results Of the 322 patients, 76.7% were male and 23.3% were female. The average age was (56.9±6.4) years old. 63.4% were married or cohabiting. Heterosexual transmission was the major transmission route, accounting for 54.3%.The median of CD4⁺ T cell count was 194.0 (83.5-301.0) on baseline, and there was significant difference in CD4⁺ T cell count among HIV/AIDS patients by different transmission route (H=14.200,P=0.003). CD4⁺ T cell count of different time points after treatment showed differences compared with the baseline data(all P<0.001).The Logistic analysis showed that gender and opportunistic infections status before treatment were the influencing factor of therapeutic effectiveness (all P<0.05). There was no significant difference among the proportion of complete inhibition of virus at different time periods (χ²=2.093, P=0.719). Conclusions The antiretroviral therapy can effectively improve the body immunity, reduce viral load of HIV/AIDS in patients aged above 50 years in Shandong Province.