Table 1

Characteristics of the Sample and its Subgroups at first clinic visit

Characteristic
Total Sample
Group 1 (G1)
Group 2 (G2)
P-value ¶

Sample size (n)
455
36
419

Sex: n (%)




     Male
334(73.4)
33 (91.7)
301 (71.8)
0.127
     Female
121(26.6)
3 (8.3)
118 (28.2)

HIV risk factor: n (%)




     IDU *
285(62.9)
2 (5.7)
283 (67.7)
< 0.001
     Heterosexual
123(27)
16 (44.4)
107 (25.5)
0.132
     MSM **
23(5.1)
4 (11.1)
19 (4.5)
< 0.999 ∥
     MSMW ‡
8(1.8)
6 (16.7)
2 (0.5)
< 0.001 ∥
     Unknown
16(3.5)
8 (22.2)
8 (2)
< 0.001 ∥
AIDS criteria: n (%)




     Yes §
57(12.5)
7 (19.4)
50 (11.9)
< 0.999 ∥
     No
398(87.5)
29 (80.6)
369 (88.1)

Previous treatment: n (%)




     Yes
181(39.8)
2 (5.6)
179 (42.7)
< 0.001
     No
274(60.2)
34 (94.4)
240 (57.3)

CD4 (n° cel./mm3)
352.08 ± 294.10
180.83 ± 230.85
366.90 ± 294.52
< 0.001
CD8 (n° cel./mm3)
957.82 ± 597.10
963.38 ± 733.22
956.97 ± 583.73
< 0.999
Plasma viral load (log10)
4.09 ± 1.22
4.51 ± 1.18
4.05 ± 1.22
0.451
HBsAg #: n (%)




     Positive
24(8.1)
1 (4.5)
23 (8.3)
< 0.999
     Negative
274(91.9)
21 (95.5)
253 (91.7)

Anti-HCV: n (%)




     Positive
197(56.8)
3 (13.6)
194 (65.1)
< 0.001
     Negative
123(43.2)
19 (86.4)
104 (34.9)


P value adjusted by Bonferroni procedure; * IDU: Injection drug user; ** MSM: Men who have sex with men; ∥ Fisher exact test; ‡ MSMW: Men who have sex with men or women; § AIDS criteria: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) category C; # HBsAg: Hepatitis B superficial antigen

Nogueras et al. BMC Infectious Diseases 2006 6:159   doi:10.1186/1471-2334-6-159