ABSTRACT
<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To analyze the survival time and its related factors among AIDS patients in Liangshan prefecture of Sichuan province from 1995 to 2012.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>A retrospective cohort study was conducted to analyze the information of 5 263 AIDS patients. The data were collected from Chinese HIV/AIDS Comprehensive Information Management System. Life table method was applied to calculate the survival proportion, and Kaplan-Meier and Cox proportion hazard regression model were used to identify the factors related to survival time.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Among 5 273 AIDS patients, 819 (15.6%)died of AIDS related diseases; 2 782(52.9%) received antiretroviral therapy. The average survival time was 126.7 (117.1-136.2) months, and the survival rate in 1, 5, 10, 15 years were 95.4%, 78.8%, 54.2%, and 31.8% respectively. Univariate analysis showed a significant difference in survival time of age diagnosed as AIDS patients, nationality, transmission route, AIDS phase, CD4(+)T cell counts in the last testing, receiving antiretroviral therapy or not. Multivariate Cox regression showed age diagnosed AIDS below 50 years old ( < 15 years old:HR = 0.141, 95%CI:0.036-0.551;15-49 years old:HR = 0.343, 95%CI:0.241-0.489), HIV infection diagnosed phase (HR = 0.554, 95%CI:0.432-0.709), CD4(+)T cell counts last testing ≥ 350/µl (HR = 0.347, 95%CI:0.274-0.439) reduced the risk of dying of AIDS related diseases among AIDS patients. The patients having not received antiretroviral therapy had a higher risk of death(HR = 3.478, 95%CI:2.943-4.112) compared to those who received antiretroviral therapy.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Survival time of AIDS patients was possibly mainly influenced by the age of diagnosed as AIDS patients, AIDS phase, CD4(+)T cell counts and whether or not received antiretroviral therapy. The early initiation of antiretroviral therapy could extend the survival time.</p>