Characteristics of baseline viral load before antiretroviral therapy in newly reported HIV-infected patients in Tianjin, 2019-2022

Abstract

Objective: To understand the baseline viral load (VL) of newly reported HIV- infected patients before antiretroviral therapy and related factors in Tianjin. Methods: Data were obtained from the China Disease Control and Prevention Information System, and the study subjects were HIV-infected patients before the first antiretroviral therapy in Tianjin from 2019 to 2022, and the information about their socio-demographic characteristics, baseline CD4+T lymphocyte (CD4) counts before antiretroviral therapy and baseline VL test results were collected, the baseline high VL was defined as ≥100 000 copies/ml. The effect of different factors on viral load were analyzed. Software SPSS 24.0 was used for statistical analysis. Results: A total of 1 296 newly reported HIV-infected patients were included in the study, in whom 15.89% (206/1 296) had high baseline VL, and multifactorial logistic regression analysis showed that those with history of STD (aOR=1.45, 95%CI:1.00-2.08) were more likely to have high baseline VL. Compared with those with baseline CD4 counts <200 cells/μl, those with baseline CD4 counts 200-350 cells/μl (aOR=0.40, 95%CI: 0.27-0.57), 351-500 cells/μl (aOR=0.32, 95%CI: 0.20-0.49), and >500 cells/μl (aOR=0.30, 95%CI: 0.18-0.49) were less likely to have high baseline VL. Conclusions: The proportion of HIV-infected patients with high baseline VL before antiretroviral therapy was low in Tianjin during 2019-2022. History of STD and baseline CD4 counts <200 cells/μl were associated with high baseline VL in HIV-infected patients, to which close attention needs to be paid in AIDS prevention and control.