The relationships between ethnicity, sex, risk group, and virus load in human immunodeficiency virus type 1 antiretroviral-naive patients

This cross-sectional study examined the relationships between ethnicity, se x, risk group, and virus load in human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1 ) antiretroviral-naive patients. HIV-1 RNA levels were measured in 322 pati ents attending St. Thomas' Hospital between May 1997 and February 1999. By univariate analyses, only clinical status and CD4(+) cell count were relate d to virus load. In multivariate analysis, variables independently related to virus load were CD4(+) cell count (P=.001), being black African (P=.001) , having a nonsexual risk for HIV infection (P=.03), and having AIDS (P=.05 ). Neither sex nor age was a significant predictor of initial virus load af ter adjusting for other variables. For a given CD4(+) cell count, black Afr icans and people who contracted HIV nonsexually presented with a virus load lower than that of patients in other groups. Because virus loads may need to be interpreted differently according to ethnicity, this may affect decis ions on when to initiate antiretroviral therapy and how to interpret clinic al trial results.