Clinical presentation of HIV infection in patients aged 50 years or older

Objectives: To describe the clinical presentation of HIV disease in older p atients. Methods: In the period 1989-1996 we reviewed the medical records of 100 pat ients with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection aged 50 years or ol der and, 197 controls among HIV-infected patients aged 15-40 years, who att ended six institutions in the autonomous community of Valencia (Spain). Results: Older patients were mostly males (86%), men who have sex with men (42%) or unknown (20%) as exposure categories. Older patients had lower CD4 cell counts/mm(3) (163+/-136 vs. 450+/-373, P=0.008), and had AIDS at firs t evaluation (49% vs. 29%, P = 0.0006) compared with younger patients. For patients presenting with AIDS at HIV infection diagnosis, type and frequenc y of AIDS indicator diseases did not differ between older and younger patie nts. Conclusion: Studies on clues for early detection of HIV infection in patien ts aged 30 pears or older are urgently needed to improve the health care in this population.