The association between sinusitis and survival among individuals infected with the human immunodeficiency virus

The purpose of this study was to determine the association between sinusiti s and survival among human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected persons. A ll patients enrolled in the adult spectrum of disease data base from Novemb er 1, 1990 to November 1, 1999 were included. Patients were followed until death, loss to follow-up, or the end of the study on January 10, 2000. A Co x proportional hazard regression analysis was conducted to evaluate the ass ociation between sinusitis, various other cofactors, and survival. Of the 7 513 HIV-infected patients followed, 57% were < 35 years old, 59.5% were bla ck, 78.5% were male, and 20.8% had an opportunistic infection (OI) at entry . The incidence of one or more diagnoses of sinusitis in the cohort was 14. 5%. The mean entry CD4 count for the entire cohort was 347.8 (SD, 298.9) an d the mean follow-up time was 33.2 months (SD, 25.7). The mean CD4 count at the time of sinusitis diagnosis was 391 (SD, 316). In the multivariate ana lysis, older age and lower CD4 cell count were associated with death. Sinus itis, gender, and race were not associated with survival. Sinusitis is freq uent in individuals infected with HIV. After adjusting for level of immunod eficiency, age, gender, and race, sinusitis is not associated with an incre ased hazard of death. This may have implications for treatment, because a d iagnosis of sinusitis does not portend a poor prognosis in individuals infe cted with HIV.