DEMOGRAPHIC PROFILE OF HIV-POSITIVE PATIENTS REGISTERED AT ANTIRETROVIRAL THERAPY CENTRE HAYATABAD MEDICAL COMPLEX, PESHAWAR

OBJECTIVE: To study the demographic characteristics of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) positive patients registered/diagnosed at Anti Retroviral Therapy (ART) center Hayat Abad Medical complex (HMC) Peshawar.METHODOLOGY: This hospital based descriptive study was conducted on all HIV-positive patients who were either registered or diagnosed from January 2006 to June 2011, at ART center HMC in Peshawar Pakistan. Demographic profile was recorded in terms of age, gender, education, occupation, area of residence and history of travel abroad.Data were presented as tables and were analyzed by SPSS version 10with descriptive statistics.RESULTS: Out of 715 registered patients during the study period, 529(74%) were males and 186 (26%) wee females, with male to female ratio of 3:1. Mean age of the patients was 37.9±9.5 years, 680 (95.1%)were adults and 35 (4.9%) were children. Most of the (n=486, 64%)patients were uneducated and 480 (67 %) patients were unemployed.Level of education had a strong negative correlation with HIV status (r= -0.867), i.e. with increase in years of education the number of HIVpatients decreased. Out of 715 patients, 442 patients (62%) were residents of Khyber Pukhunkhwa and 183 (25.5%) patients belonged to federally administered tribal areas. About half of the patients (n=350;49%) had history of working abroad.CONCLUSION: HIV infection was more in young age male and in residents of KPK. Poverty, unemployment, lack of education and frequent traveling abroad were frequently observed in HIV patients.