Late HIV Diagnosis and Survival Within 1 Year Following the First Positive HIV Test in a Limited-Resource Region

Abstract

Brazil has been considered as the developing country with the most successful HIV treatment program as it guarantees free access to antiretroviral therapy for all people living with HIV and in need of treatment. Despite this most individuals commence ART at an advanced stage of disease. This study investigated the late diagnosis of HIV infection among individuals with a first positive HIV test who sought care at the main referral hospital in Goias Central-West Brazil. It compared early mortality between those who were diagnosed late and those who were. The findings of this study will be important for nurses providing preventive and clinical care for HIV patients in limited-resource regions. The results highlight that early HIV diagnosis has been a great challenge among efforts to control the epidemic as most infected individuals only seek medical care when they develop AIDS-related symptoms. Infected individuals who do not know their status contribute to the spread of the infection are at higher risk of early death and have increased associated health care costs. Furthermore high late-diagnosis rates have even been found in countries where ART are available for free which is confirmed by the studys findings. Therefore in countries where ART is widely accessibly the great programmatic challenge is to improve early diagnosis of HIV infection and to better train nurses to encourage people to test for HIV in all healthcare settings.