Viral load predicts new world health organization stage 3 and 4 events in HIV-infected children receiving highly active antiretroviral therapy, independent of CD4 T lymphocyte value.

BACKGROUND: Many resource-limited countries rely on clinical and immunological monitoring without routine virological monitoring for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected children receiving highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART). We assessed whether HIV load had independent predictive value in the presence of immunological and clinical data for the occurrence of new World Health Organization (WHO) stage 3 or 4 events (hereafter, WHO events) among HIV-infected children receiving HAART in Latin America. METHODS: The NISDI (Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development International Site Development Initiative) Pediatric Protocol is an observational cohort study designed to describe HIV-related outcomes among infected children. Eligibility criteria for this analysis included perinatal infection, age <15 years, and continuous HAART for ≥6 months. Cox proportional hazards modeling was used to assess time to new WHO events as a function of immunological status, viral load, hemoglobin level, and potential confounding variables; laboratory tests repeated during the study were treated as time-varying predictors. RESULTS: The mean duration of follow-up was 2.5 years; new WHO events occurred in 92 (15.8%) of 584 children. In proportional hazards modeling, most recent viral load >5000 copies/mL was associated with a nearly doubled risk of developing a WHO event (adjusted hazard ratio, 1.81; 95% confidence interval, 1.05-3.11; P = .033), even after adjustment for immunological status defined on the basis of CD4 T lymphocyte value, hemoglobin level, age, and body mass index. CONCLUSIONS: Routine virological monitoring using the WHO virological failure threshold of 5000 copies/mL adds independent predictive value to immunological and clinical assessments for identification of children receiving HAART who are at risk for significant HIV-related illness. To provide optimal care, periodic virological monitoring should be considered for all settings that provide HAART to children.

Health literacy and antiretroviral adherence among HIV-infected adolescents.

OBJECTIVE: This study investigates HIV positive adolescents' health literacy and whether factors associated with health literacy in HIV-positive adults are associated with health literacy among HIV-positive adolescents. METHODS: Adolescents in this study were behaviorally and perinatally HIV-infected youth (n=186) from five U.S. cities. Participants had a mean age of 20.5, and 49.5% were male. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: Contrary to findings for adult HIV-positive patients, among adolescents health literacy was not significantly associated with: medication adherence adjusting for age and education level; viral load; or self-efficacy to adhere to medication regimens. The only significant association was of health literacy with medical care received. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: Practice implications are discussed.