Behavioral and clinical characteristics of people receiving medical care for HIV infection in an outpatient facility in Sicily, Italy

Figures & data

Table 1 Demographic/lifestyle and clinical characteristics of the study participants according to CD4⁺ cell count

Variable	HIV-infected whole patient group (n=224)	HIV with a CD4^+ T-cell count <500/mm^3 (n=118)	HIV with a CD4^+ T-cell count ≥500/mm^3 (n=106)	P-value	HIV with a CD4^+ T-cell count <200/mm^3 (n=23)	HIV with a CD4^+ T-cell count ≥200/mm^3 (n=201)	P-value
Age (mean ± SD) (years)	45.6 (9.2)	45.4 (9.4)	45.8 (9.1)	0.776	45.2 (8.4)	45.7 (9.3)	0.842
Males/females	163/61	84/34	79/27	0.575	16/7	147/54	0.805
Geographic origin (N)
Italy/Africa	198/26	100/18	98/8	0.094	17/6	181/20	0.034
BMI (kg/m^2) (mean ± SD)	23.9 (3.8)	23.4 (4.5)	24.6 (2.7)	0.070	20.8 (6.5)	24.3 (3.3)	0.001
High-risk sexual behaviors
Heterosexual (N)	55	35	20	0.064	^Citation7	48	0.455
Homosexual (N)	51	22	29	0.151	^Citation2	49	0.116
Bisexual (N)	30	20	10	0.118	6	24	0.097
Drug addiction (N)	55	33	22	0.218	10	45	0.039
HCV-positive (N)	19	12	7	0.742	4	15	0.115
Current CD4^+ T-cell count (cells/µL, mean ± SD; median)	524 (292; 476)	308 (141; 343)	774 (209; 719)	–	82.4 (64.4; 63)	574.9 (263.3; 512)	–
Plasma VL (mean ± SD; median) (log10 copies/mL)	1.82 (1.16; 1.3)	2.04 (1.38; 1.4)	1.58 (0.79; 1.3)	0.010a	2.85 (1.7; 2.3)	1.70 (1.0; 1.3)	<0.0005a
ART status
Naïve	14	^Citation10	4	0.145	^Citation1	13	1.0
ART <5 years	82	52	30	0.017	12	70	0.173
ART 5–10 years	37	17	20	0.373	^Citation1	36	0.138
ART >10 years	97	45	52	0.101	^Citation10	87	1.0
Mean day-care access
For laboratory testing of CD4^+	6.5 (2.5)	7.0 (2.8; 15)	6.2 (2.2; 11)	0.026	6.3 (2.5; 9)	6.7 (2.6; 15)	0.556
For VL	9.6 (3.5)	10.1 (3.8; 21)	9.4 (3.1; 15)	0.167	9.2 (3.4; 14)	9.8 (3.5; 21)	0.431
Biochemical and physical parameters
Blood calcium	9.3 (0.5)	9.3 (0.5)	9.3 (0.6)	0.583	9.2 (0.4)	9.3 (0.5)	0.404
Blood phosphorus	3.3 (2.4)	3.4 (3.3)	3.2 (0.7)	0.370	3.2 (0.7)	3.3 (2.5)	0.889
25-Hydroxyvitamin D (ng/mL)	37.1 (13.8)	28.9 (13.7)	25.1 (13.8)	0.140	23.7 (6.8)	27.4 (14.2)	0.439
Creatinine	1.3 (6.3)	1.7 (8.7)	0.9 (0.8)	0.352	1.0 (0.6)	1.4 (6.7)	0.802
Parathormone	53.0 (44.4)	41.7 (14.6)	65.9 (61.4)	0.066	34.3 (16.9)	54.8 (45.9)	0.383
Hypertension	35	24	11	0.044	5	30	0.544
Treatment of cholesterolemiab	25	15	10	0.526	1	24	0.334

Notes:

a Mann–Whitney U statistic test.

b Total cholesterol ≥300 mg/dL and total cholesterol-to-HDL ratio >5 in males and >4 in females. Statistically significant values are shown in bold.

Abbreviations: ART, antiretroviral therapy; BMI, body mass index; HCV, hepatitis C virus; HDL, high-density lipoprotein; SD, standard deviation; VL, viral load.

Figure 1 Number of days of accesses to the outpatients clinic according to CD4⁺ T-cell count.

Table 2 Univariate and multivariate regression analysis of patients stratified by 500/mm³ CD4⁺ T-cell count

	HIV with a CD4^+ T-cell count <500 vs ≥500/mm^3
	Univariate			Multivariate
	Exp(B)	95% CI	P-value	Exp(B)	95% CI	P-value
Demographic/lifestyle characteristics
Age	0.996	0.97–1.02	0.775
Female gender	1.20	0.66–2.16	0.549
Nationality	2.205	0.92–5.30	0.078
BMI	0.910	0.82–1.01	0.083
Characteristics of HIV infection
Naïve ART	2.847	0.82–9.87	0.099
Homosexual	0.608	0.32–1.14	0.122
Bisexual	1.959	0.87–4.40	0.103
Heterosexual	1.813	0.97–3.39	0.063
ART
<5 years	2.013	1.15–3.53	0.015	2.206	1.22–3.99	0.009
5–10 years	0.719	0.35–1.46	0.362
>10 years	0.627	0.36–1.08	0.090
Drug addiction	1.482	0.80–2.75	0.212
Number of accesses for VL	1.056	0.98–1.14	0.167
Number of accesses for CD4^+	1.128	1.02–1.26	0.028	1.092	0.98–1.22	0.130
CO-HCV	1.601	0.61–4.23	0.342
Biochemical and physical parameters
Blood calcium	0.860	0.50–1.47	0.582
Blood phosphorus	1.076	0.89–1.30	0.446
25-Hydroxyvitamin D (ng/mL)	1.021	0.99–1.05	0.142
Creatinine	1.042	0.91–1.20	0.567
Parathormone	0.980	0.95–1.01	0.149
Hypertension	2.205	1.02–4.75	0.044	2.380	1.052–5.41	0.039
Treatment of cholesterolemia	1.398	0.60–3.26	0.438

Note: Statistically significant values are shown in bold.

Abbreviations: ART, antiretroviral therapy; BMI, body mass index; CI, confidence interval; VL, viral load; CO-HCV, HIV–HCV coinfections.

Table 3 Univariate and multivariate regression analysis of patients’ characteristics stratified by 200/mm³ CD4⁺ T-cell count

	HIV with a CD4^+ T-cell count <200 vs ≥200/mm^3
	Univariate			Multivariate
	Exp(B)	95% CI	P-value	Exp(B)	95% CI	P-value
Demographic/lifestyle characteristics
Age	0.995	0.95–1.04	0.841
Female gender	1.18	0.46–3.03	0.727
Ethnicity	3.194	1.13–9.03	0.028	10.052	1.84–54.9	0.008
BMI	0.854	0.75–0.97	0.014	1.080	0.94–1.24	0.267
Characteristics of HIV infection
Naïve ART	0.663	0.08–5.76	0.710
Homosexual	0.295	0.07–1.31	0.108
Bisexual	2.603	0.94–7.25	0.067
Heterosexual	1.395	0.54–3.59	0.491
ART
<5 years	0.522	0.22–1.24	0.142
5–10 years	0.198	0.03–1.52	0.119
>10 years	0.937	0.39–2.24	0.884
Drug addiction	2.667	1.10–6.49	0.031	3.959	0.79–19.8	0.094
Number of accesses for VL	0.951	0.84–1.08	0.429
Number of accesses for CD4^+	0.950	0.80–1.13	0.554
CO-HCV	2.611	0.79–8.67	0.117
Biochemical and physical parameters
Blood calcium	0.656	0.25–1.74	0.397
Blood phosphorus	0.984	0.78–1.24	0.890
25-Hydroxyvitamin D (ng/mL)	0.979	0.93–1.04	0.435
Creatinine	0.985	0.87–1.12	0.815
Parathormone	0.949	0.87–1.04	0.228
Hypertension	1.583	0.55–4.59	0.397
Treatment of cholesterolemia	0.335	0.04–2.60	0.296

Note: Statistically significant values are shown in bold.

Abbreviations: ART, antiretroviral therapy; BMI, body mass index; CI, confidence interval; VL, viral load; CO-HCV, HIV–HCV coinfections.

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