COGNITIVE FUNCTION IN ASYMPTOMATIC HIV-INFECTION

Objective: To determine the nature and extent of cognitive deficits in early stage (asymptomatic) human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-positiv e homosexual and bisexual men. Design: A cross-sectional design was us ed to compare 27 HIV-positive, asymptomatic (Centers for Disease Contr ol and Prevention stages 2 and 3) homosexual and bisexual men, who wer e designated as the seropositive group, with 29 seronegative homosexua l and bisexual men, who were designated as the control group. Methods: The participant groups were closely matched on a number of demographi c and lifestyle variables. Participants were carefully and repeatedly screened for substance abuse, a history of psychiatric problems, use o f psychoactive medications, and neurological problems. All participant s completed an extensive neuropsychological battery and a computerized information processing battery to identify cognitive deficits. Result s: No significant between-group differences were found on either the n europsychological assessments or the information processing tests. Add itionally, we found no evidence of a subgroup of seropositive, asympto matic individuals with general cognitive slowing. Conclusions: Educate d, HIV-positive asymptomatic individuals may show little difference in cognitive performance compared with a group of matched controls when the groups are carefully screened and matched. Additionally, computeri zed tests may be no more sensitive than neuropsychological tests to co gnitive decrements for these types of participants.