Abstract :
Introduction: With anti-retroviral drugs mortality from HIV has reduced over the past decade. There is a
decline in deaths due to HIV/AIDS evident since mid- 2000’s. Progression of disease to different stages largely
depends on the immune status of the individual. A depleting CD4 count correlates with progression of HIV.
Hence, this study was carried out with the objective to find the various factors affecting the CD4 count.
Materials and Methods: Information was gathered from a total of 1000 patient’s on ART medication attending
the ART centre at the district government hospital was collected for a period of one year. Descriptive
statistics, one sample t test and ANOVA were used for analysis.
Results: 71.4% of the attendees the CD4 count was below 500 cells/mm3
. The mean CD4 was significantly
higher in: Females [Mean = 450.72 +/-213.63 (p = 0.001)]. It was also significantly different with respect
to adherence, duration of disease, habits and opportunistic infections.
Conclusion: CD4 count was influenced by gender, age, duration of disease and treatment and by personal
habits like smoking and alcohol. It alone can be taken as a predictor of disease progression.
Keyword :
Clinical-epidemiological profile, CD4 count, HIV