Sociodemographic and clinical characteristics of patients with HIV treated in a hospital in the Colombian Orinoco region 2018-2023

Abstract

Introduction: The human immunodeficiency virus is a worldwide public health problem, with an average number of infected people between 33.1 and 45.7 million and the death of an average of 630 000 people per year. According to the WHO, only 54% of people infected with HIV know they are infected. Methods: Observational, descriptive, retrospective, retrospective, cross-sectional study of patients who consulted a hospital in the Colombian Orinoquía and who underwent confirmation of HIV diagnosis in the period from 2018 to 2023. Results: 337 patients were obtained, 72.70% male and 23.30% female; the mean age was 34.89 years (SD ± 12.63); 94.07% came from urban areas and 5.93% from rural areas; 56.08% were in the HIV stage and 43.92% in the AIDS stage; according to the mechanisms of transmission, heterosexual 70.92%, homosexual 13.06%, bisexual 9.50%, and maternal infant 6. 53%; the most frequent opportunistic diseases and/or coinfections were cerebral toxoplasmosis (24.32%), esophageal candidiasis (20.27%), pneumonitis pneumonia (17.57%), pulmonary tuberculosis 13.51%, 89.06% of patients started antiretroviral therapy during hospital stay, mortality reported in this cohort of patients diagnosed in the period from 2018 to 2023 was 8.01%. Conclusions: It is important to strengthen actions to improve access to health services for patients living with HIV, avoid prolonged stays in hospital care centers, and prevent severe opportunistic infections that require prolonged treatments leading to drug interactions and affecting adherence to treatments.