Biomaterial Database

The association between youth, women, and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. 1996

A Shevitz, and M Pagano, and M A Chiasson, and N Mueller, and P Thomas

Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts 02167, USA.

This article compares the characteristics of women and heterosexual men with AIDS in New York City. The analysis was performed using the New York City AIDS Surveillance Database, namely, those 37,002 persons diagnosed from 1984 to 1993 between ages 15 and 64, excluding men who report sex with other men as their sole risk behavior. The median age at diagnosis was 34 years for women with heterosexually acquired disease, 36 years for women with a history of injection drug use, and 39 years for men, most of whom used injection drugs (p < 0.001). The proportion of women and the rate of increase of this proportion were greater among younger AIDS cases. By 1993 women comprised the majority of cases under age 30, and most of these young women had heterosexually acquired disease. For each decrease in 5-year age group under age 45, the odds of a case being a woman increased by 30% (95% confidence interval = 27, 33%) after adjustment for year. CD4 cell count reporting, and race/ethnicity. There was a somewhat greater youth-gender effect among black persons with AIDS (6% additional increase for each decrease in age group; 95% confidence interval = 3, 10%). Therefore, women are overrepresented among younger persons with AIDS, particularly persons of color. They are largely infected through heterosexual contact with men who have used intravenous drugs.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D008297	Male		Males
D008875	Middle Aged	An adult aged 45 - 64 years.	Middle Age
D009519	New York City	City located at the mouth of the Hudson River, in New York State.
D005260	Female		Females
D006801	Humans	Members of the species Homo sapiens.	Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D000163	Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome	An acquired defect of cellular immunity associated with infection by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a CD4-positive T-lymphocyte count under 200 cells/microliter or less than 14% of total lymphocytes, and increased susceptibility to opportunistic infections and malignant neoplasms. Clinical manifestations also include emaciation (wasting) and dementia. These elements reflect criteria for AIDS as defined by the CDC in 1993.	AIDS,Immunodeficiency Syndrome, Acquired,Immunologic Deficiency Syndrome, Acquired,Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome,Acquired Immuno-Deficiency Syndrome,Acquired Immuno Deficiency Syndrome,Acquired Immuno-Deficiency Syndromes,Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndromes,Immuno-Deficiency Syndrome, Acquired,Immuno-Deficiency Syndromes, Acquired,Immunodeficiency Syndromes, Acquired,Syndrome, Acquired Immuno-Deficiency,Syndrome, Acquired Immunodeficiency,Syndromes, Acquired Immuno-Deficiency,Syndromes, Acquired Immunodeficiency
D000293	Adolescent	A person 13 to 18 years of age.	Adolescence,Youth,Adolescents,Adolescents, Female,Adolescents, Male,Teenagers,Teens,Adolescent, Female,Adolescent, Male,Female Adolescent,Female Adolescents,Male Adolescent,Male Adolescents,Teen,Teenager,Youths
D000328	Adult	A person having attained full growth or maturity. Adults are of 19 through 44 years of age. For a person between 19 and 24 years of age, YOUNG ADULT is available.	Adults
D000367	Age Factors	Age as a constituent element or influence contributing to the production of a result. It may be applicable to the cause or the effect of a circumstance. It is used with human or animal concepts but should be differentiated from AGING, a physiological process, and TIME FACTORS which refers only to the passage of time.	Age Reporting,Age Factor,Factor, Age,Factors, Age
D012307	Risk Factors	An aspect of personal behavior or lifestyle, environmental exposure, inborn or inherited characteristic, which, based on epidemiological evidence, is known to be associated with a health-related condition considered important to prevent.	Health Correlates,Risk Factor Scores,Risk Scores,Social Risk Factors,Population at Risk,Populations at Risk,Correlates, Health,Factor, Risk,Factor, Social Risk,Factors, Social Risk,Risk Factor,Risk Factor Score,Risk Factor, Social,Risk Factors, Social,Risk Score,Score, Risk,Score, Risk Factor,Social Risk Factor