[A retrospective cohort study on the survival of blood-borne human immunodeficiency virus cases in a county, China].

Objective: To understand the survival rate of adult blood-borne human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) cases in a county.

Methods: A retrospective cohort study was carried out to determine the survival from HIV infection and related factors among 78 adult HIV cases infected by blood and confirmed by the end of 2002. Kaplan-meier method was used to describe the survival distribution and Cox proportional hazard model was used to determine the factors associated with the survival time.

Results: The total mortality after infection was 78.57/1000 p-y and AIDS related mortality was 72.95/1000 p-y. The median survival time was 7.40 years (95% Confidence Interval: 6.79 - 8.02). After adjustment for the clinical stage at presentation (HIV or AIDS), people who got infected at the age of 30 - 40 years or infected by the end of 1995 would proceed to death slower than the other groups.

Conclusion: The survival of HIV cases infected by blood at the county level might have been underestimated and should be adjusted when HIV/AIDS was estimated and projected. Survival was associated with age when infection started so different survival functions should be used on different age groups that infection started.