Survival Rate of Patients With HIV/AIDS and Related Factors in Tehran, Iran

Human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immune deficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a major public health problem in Iran. It imposes heavy costs on governments and affected people. Determining the survival duration of patients and recognizing the related factors can help the disease surveillance system.

The current study aimed at determining the survival rate and the related factors concerning patients with HIV/AIDS identified in Tehran, Iran.

The study population of the current retrospective cohort consisted of patients with HIV/AIDS covered by the Health Center of Southern Tehran. The data were obtained by referring to the HIV/AIDS care centers and reviewing the patients’ records. Survival rates of the study subjects during 10 years follow-up were calculated. The Cox proportional-hazards model was used to determine the relationship between independent variables and survival of patients with HIV/AIDS.

A total of 487 patients were investigated in the current study. Four-hundred thirty-three subjects (88.9%) were male, and 54 (11.1%) female. The mean ± standard deviation of the participants’ age was 44.08 ± 9.00 years. According to univariate analyses, the variables of gender, marital status, education level, occupational status, transmission way, infection with hepatitis C or tuberculosis, and history of antiretroviral treatment were significantly associated with the survival time of patients with AIDS. In the final model, a significant relationship was found between the variables of treatment, coinfection with tuberculosis, occupational status, education level, marital status, and mortality.

The current study was one of the few research that examined the survival rate of HIV-infected patients in Iran. Considering the expansion of AIDS epidemic in Iran, it is necessary to take appropriate measures to prevent the spread of the epidemic and decrease the mortality rate of infected patients through early detection and timely treatment of HIV-positive people coinfected with tuberculosis, creation of employment opportunities for patients and addicted individuals, controlling substance abuse, and paying more attention to harm reduction programs in individuals that have unsafe sex as one of the most important high-risk groups to increase their survival time.