Neurocognitive functioning in an urban clinic-based sample of adults ages 50 and older living with HIV

ABSTRACT

We administered a battery of neurocognitive tests to 100 HIV-positive men and women ages 50 to 70 seeking care at a large Northeastern urban HIV care clinic. Performance on neurocognitive assessments varied by demographic states. Across all assessments, approximately 28% of participants reached the threshold for borderline performance while 13% reached the threshold for impairment. When tests were grouped by domain of neurocognitive functioning, 12% of the sample met the threshold for impairment on executive functioning and 19% for processing speed. The findings demonstrate that neurocognitive declines may vary by domains of functioning, that disparities may exist across subpopulations of the seropositive aging population, and that these challenges may exist even in those actively engaged in HIV care.

KEYWORDS:

• aging
• antiviral therapy
• executive functioning
• HIV
• neurocognition
• processing speed