Temporal changes in causes of death among HIV-infected patients in the HAART era in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Background: The widespread use of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) has led to marked decreases in death rates in Brazil in HIV-infected individuals. Nonetheless, there are scarce data on specific causes of death.

Methods: Death rates from a cohort of HIV-infected patients in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, were analyzed in 2-year periods, from 1997 to 2006. Poisson models and survival models accounting for competing risks were used to assess association of covariables. A standardized validated algorithm was used to ascertain specific causes of death.

Results: Of the 1538 eligible patients, 226 (14.7%) died during the study period, corresponding to a mortality rate of 3.2 per 100 person-years. The median follow-up time was 4.61 years (interquartile range = 5.63 years) and the loss to follow-up rate was 2.4 per 100 person-years. Overall, 98 (43.4%) were classified as non-AIDS-related causes. Although opportunistic infections were the leading causes of death (37.6%), deaths due to AIDS-related causes declined significantly over time (P < 0.01). In the most recent period (2005-2006), the rate of non-AIDS-related causes of deaths was higher than that of AIDS-related causes of death.

Conclusions: In the HAART era, there has been a significant change in causes of death among HIV-infected patients in Rio de Janeiro. As access to HAART improves, integration with other public programs will become critically important for the long-term success of HIV/AIDS programs in developing countries.