Clinical profile ,socio-demographic features, and treatment outcome of native Kashmiri patients with HIV/AIDS : A 12-year study.

Introduction: Profile of HIV/AIDS differs considerably through different regions of the world depending upon various factors. Jammu and Kashmir in north India is considered the low HIV/AIDS prevalence area. There is very scant data about the HIV/AIDS amongst the native Kashmiri population. In this study we present the clinical and demographic profile and treatment outcomes of native Kashmiri patients seen at Anti-retroviral therapy (ART) center in our hospital over a period of twelve years. Material: & Method All native Kashmiri HIV positive patients referred to the integrated counseling and testing centre (ICTC/ART) center of our hospital for evaluation and initiation of treatment from January 2007 to December 2019 were enrolled. Results: Among 346 native Kashmiri patients with mean age of 34 ± SD 11.35 years (ranging from 11–56 years) seen over the study period, there were 226 (65.3%) males and 120 females (34.7%). Majority of our patients belonged to rural areas (n = 276; 79.8%) More than 2/3rd of the patients were in the age-group of 15–49 years (n = 269; 77.7%).Among the studied population majority of male patients had a history of working outside Kashmir valley as labourers and majority of females were house wives. More than half of the patients (55.5%) had studied upto primary level and 30.3% were illiterate. Fever was the commonest presenting symptom followed by diarrhoea and weight loss. Tuberculosis and candidiasis were the predominant opportunistic infections. WHO stage 1 disease was seen in 50.9% (n = 176) of patients. The mean CD4 count was 271 ± 236.75 /µL at presentation. Nearly 74.6% (n = 258) patients were alive after 12years of diagnosis and 25.4% patients (n = 88) had died. Age > 50years, less educated, poor compliance to treatment, TB co-infection and lower base line CD4 counts were associated with increased mortality. Conclusion: The majority of our patients were form rural areas, had low education level and belonged to the productive age group of 15–49 years which had a negative impact on the economic and overall development of family, community and country. The data presented should help healthcare planners and policymakers for introducing the interventions for implementing preventive strategies and early and effective treatment for affected individuals.