Publications by authors named "Diana Fernandez-Santos"
Objective: With combination-antiretroviral therapy, HIV-infected individuals live longer with an elevated burden of cancer. Given the high prevalence of smoking among HIV-infected populations, we examined the risk of incident cancers attributable to ever smoking cigarettes.
Design: Observational cohort of HIV-infected participants with 270 136 person-years of follow-up in the North American AIDS Cohort Collaboration on Research and Design consortium.
Article Synopsis
- This study examines the effects of combining behavioral health and trauma services on the quality of life (QOL) of 136 Latinas with a history of drug use in Puerto Rico.
- Participants showed statistically significant improvements in physical, psychological, social, and environmental QOL after six months of intervention, despite high rates of unemployment and severe substance use disorders.
- The findings indicate that Latinas who experienced trauma had lower QOL scores, highlighting the need for targeted support for this population to address their physical and mental health challenges.
Article Synopsis
- Late HIV testing (LT) is a serious issue in Puerto Rico, with 47% of patients testing late between 2000 and 2011, leading to worse health outcomes compared to those who tested early.
- While the prevalence of LT decreased from 47% in 2000 to 37% in 2011, factors like being male and older age were linked to higher odds of LT, while a history of amphetamine use lowered those odds.
- Notably, only men who have sex with men (MSM) showed a significant decrease in LT rates, highlighting a need for better early detection strategies and evaluation of HIV-testing guidelines in Puerto Rico.
Article Synopsis
- A study followed 882 Puerto Rican patients undergoing antiretroviral therapy (ART) for HIV over 11 years, focusing on socio-demographic factors and HIV risk behaviors.
- Results showed that 661 patients with consistent ART had a higher persistent HIV viral load, linked to factors like illicit drug use and obesity.
- Findings suggest a need to improve ART adherence strategies andResearch differences in ART tolerance and compliance.
Pancytopenia is seen in late HIV infection; it is associated with medical complications and with decreased survival. We determined the prevalence of pancytopenia at baseline in a cohort of HIV-positive Hispanics living in Puerto Rico, and compared their socio-demographic, immunological and clinical characteristics. A total of 1202 patients enrolled between 2000 and 2010 were included.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFImpact of ASUMA Intervention on HIV Risk Behaviors among Puerto Rican Adolescents.
Int J Environ Res Public Health
December 2015
Article Synopsis
- The study evaluated HIV risk behaviors in early adolescents over three years with 135 junior high school students participating.
- A self-administered questionnaire compared risk behaviors at baseline and after the intervention, revealing significant differences between the intervention and control groups.
- Results showed fewer students in the intervention group engaged in HIV risk behaviors at the end of the study, indicating that the ASUMA initiative could effectively reduce these risks among adolescents.
Article Synopsis
- Late HIV testing (LT) is linked to higher transmission rates and worse health outcomes, particularly among Latinos, who make up a significant portion of LT cases in the US.
- A study conducted in Puerto Rico showed that from 2000 to 2011, 47% of eligible HIV patients were late testers, but this number decreased to 37% over the years, with men and older individuals being more likely to test late.
- The findings reveal a specific improvement in LT rates among men who have sex with men (MSM), but overall, there is still a notable need for earlier HIV detection efforts in Puerto Rico.
Article Synopsis
- Anemia is common in HIV-infected Hispanic patients, with a prevalence of 41.5%, and is linked to a higher risk of mortality in this group.
- Factors associated with increased odds of anemia include unemployment, low CD4 count, high viral load, low white blood cell count, and having clinical AIDS, while higher BMI is linked to lower odds of anemia.
- Survival rates show significant differences based on anemia status, with one-year mortality rates rising from 2.5% for patients without anemia to 30.8% for those with severe anemia, indicating that anemia is a critical factor in predicting mortality.
Article Synopsis
- HIV in the elderly is often underdiagnosed, leading to significant health and financial challenges for public health systems.
- A study examined 266 elderly patients with HIV/AIDS, focusing on gender and body mass index (BMI) as key factors.
- Results showed that men were more often overweight, while women tended to be underweight and had better immune response metrics (higher CD4 count, lower viral loads), highlighting differing impacts of HIV based on gender and weight.
Highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) significantly reduced the toxoplasmic encephalitis (TE) incidence in acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) patients. The TE incidence and mortality were evaluated in an AIDS cohort followed in Puerto Rico before, during, and after HAART implementation in the Island. Of the 2,431 AIDS studied patients 10.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFArticle Synopsis
- Teenagers are the fastest growing group of new HIV infections, prompting the ASUMA Project in Puerto Rico to develop a support model aimed at reducing HIV risk in early adolescents.
- The study followed 135 participants over three years, comparing an intervention group with a control group using self-administered questionnaires to measure changes in HIV risk behaviors and developmental factors.
- The results indicated a significant decrease in HIV risk behaviors and positive improvements in developmental factors among the intervention group, highlighting the effectiveness of culturally tailored interventions for HIV/AIDS prevention.
Article Synopsis
- Early initiation of injection drug use (IDU) before age 13 is linked to a range of adverse psychosocial and clinical outcomes in a study of 1308 HIV-positive patients.
- The early initiation group exhibited higher rates of tobacco and alcohol use, suicide attempts, incarceration, and various mental health issues.
- Despite a different clinical profile, including specific infections, there were no significant differences in mortality rates or antiretroviral treatment outcomes between the early and non-early initiation groups.