Remis RS, Palmer RW, Leclerc P, Eason EL, Lebel F, Fauvel M; International Conference on AIDS.
Int Conf AIDS. 1996 Jul 7-12; 11: 228 (abstract no. Th.C.122).
STD/AIDS Prevention and Control Program, Regional Public Health Department, Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Fax: (514) 932-1502. E-mail: pleclerc@acces-cible.qc.ca.
Objective: To modify an ongoing anonymous unlinked HIV prevalence study (AUHPS) to permit measurement of incidence and collection of risk factor data. Methods: In 1989, an AUHPS was initiated among women undergoing abortion in a Montreal hospital. Demographic and obstetrical history data were extracted from the admission form and sera leftover from routine Rh testing were tested for HIV. In May 1994, the study was modified to permit measurement of HIV incidence among women presenting for repeat abortions by linkage of successive HIV test results. Records and sera were identified by a reproducible encrypted code (ID1) generated at entry from the date of birth and name and were sent in batches to a second hospital for recoding. ID1 was replaced by a random code ID2 and the link for each set of ID1-ID2 retained such that the same ID2 would be attributed to any later specimen from the same subject. In addition, we carried out a pilot study in which we administered a brief questionnaire on risk factors (RFQ) for HIV. Results: From 1989-95, HIV prevalence was 1.82 per 1,000 (34/18,641) and was stable over the study period. Prevalence did not vary significantly by age, region of residence, marital status or number of living children but did vary significantly by country of birth (rate per 1,000): Canada 0.31, Haiti 17.0, other HIV endemic countries (HEC) 6.7, and other non-endemic countries 0.50 (p is less than 10-6). From May 1994 to June 1995, 150 women with two or more abortions contributed 80.2 person-years (P-Y). No seroconversion has been observed to date (95% confidence interval for incidence density: 0.00 - 4.60 infections per 100 P-Y). Among the 345 women who completed the RFQ, 2.3% reported injection drug use (IDU), 13.5% (46) had sex with a male at risk (born in an HEC 14, IDU 11, bisexual 7, HIV+ 2). Among women born in Canada (193), 9.3% had one or both parents born in an HEC. Conclusions: HIV incidence is a critical, but difficult to obtain, indicator in determining HIV spread. Adding HIV incidence and risk factor data to our AUHPS enhances our ability to monitor and characterize HIV transmission in our population, in particular, that related to injection drug use and heterosexual contact.
Publication Types:
Keywords:
- Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome
- Canada
- Child
- Confidence Intervals
- Female
- HIV Infections
- HIV Seropositivity
- Haiti
- Humans
- Incidence
- Male
- Pilot Projects
- Pregnancy
- Prevalence
- Risk Factors
- Substance-Related Disorders
Other ID:
UI: 102220196
From Meeting Abstracts