TITLE:
HIV Infected Elderly Women: From Rhetoric to Reality—Experience from Eastern India
AUTHORS:
Arunansu Talukdar, Vishal Parmar, Raja Bhattacharya, Dibbendhu Khanra, Sumit Verma, Payel Talukdar, Suman Mitra, Krishnendu Roy
KEYWORDS:
HIV; Elderly; Sex; Clinical Presentation; CD4
JOURNAL NAME:
World Journal of AIDS,
Vol.4 No.1,
February
26,
2014
ABSTRACT: Background:
Detection of HIV among elderly is increasing globally and this is going to be a
major public health issue in recent future. In India, data regarding
demographical and clinical picture of HIV among elderly are sparse more so for
elderly women. Elderly individuals especially women are still largely outside
the light of HIV awareness programs and represent a major portion of undiagnosed
HIV infected population with a poor quality of life. Methods and Materials:
This cross-sectional study was conducted at HIV clinic of a tertiary care
hospital in eastern India. 567 cases (men 457, women 110) that were detected to
be HIV-positive at or after age of 50 years from 2008 to 2012 were analyzed on
socio-demographical and clinical basis. Results: Detection of HIV was found to
be increasing (5.7% in 2008 to 12.8% in 2012) among the elderly over last five
years. Illiteracy (p