The epidemiology of tuberculosis in patients with AIDS in Puerto Rico: morbidity and survival, 1981-1998. |
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| Authors: | R Pérez-Perdomo C M Pérez-Cardona E Suárez-Pérez |
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| Affiliation: | Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, Medical Sciences Campus, Graduate School of Public Health, University of Puerto Rico, San Juan 00936-5067, USA. ros_perez@rcmaca.upr.clu.edu |
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| Abstract: | SETTING: Puerto Rico. OBJECTIVE: To describe the characteristics and survival experience of AIDS patients with tuberculosis (TB) from 1981 through 1998. DESIGN: A population based study using the AIDS Surveillance System, including survival analysis. RESULTS: During the period studied, 1000 AIDS cases were reported with TB, representing 4.3% of total cases. Of these, males accounted for 82.1%, and 84% were diagnosed with pulmonary TB. Approximately 71% of the cases were reported as having died. AIDS cases who were intravenous drug users (IDU) accounted for 63.7% of the cases. The median survival of AIDS/TB cases was 21.4 months, and did not differ by sex or TB site (P > 0.05). IDUs with TB had a longer survival than IDUs with other AIDS-defining conditions; however, AIDS/TB cases with a CD4 count < 200/mm3 had a poorer survival (23.4 months) than those with a count of > or = 200/mm3 (47.9 months). CONCLUSIONS: The overall prevalence of TB in AIDS patients in Puerto Rico is low compared with other countries. As in other studies, the variable that explained poorer survival among AIDS/TB cases was the CD4+ lymphocyte count. Further prospective studies regarding survival in the Hispanic population are needed to confirm these findings. |
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