High prevalence of late diagnosis of HIV in Mexico during the HAART era.

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the prevalence of late HIV diagnosis (CD4<200 cell/mm³) in an HIV clinic in Mexico City between 2001-2008, to assess changes in this prevalence across the study period, and to determine the risk factors associated to late testing (LT). MATERIALS AND METHODS Cross-sectional analysis including all patients recently diagnosed as HIV. We estimated the proportion of LT patients and compared demographic characteristics between those and all other. We determine the risk factors associated to LT using logistic regression methods. RESULTS Sixty one percent of LT patients present when are diagnosed for the first time. The prevalence did not decrease between 2001 and 2008 (p=0.37). Older age (OR: 2.4; 95%CI 1.2-4.7), unemployment (OR: 1.75; 95%CI 1.12-2.75) and less than nine years of education (OR: 2.44; 95%CI 1.37-4.33) were independently associated to LT, in a multivariate analysis. CONCLUSION LT has high prevalence in Mexico, this impact on antiretroviral effectiveness and perhaps on HIV transmission. Policies for HIV-prevention in Mexico need to be modified to reduce LT prevalence including more aggressive strategies of testing.