OBJECTIVES: Study aimed to explore and to observe the survival function of the HIV/AIDS patients with TB as co-morbidity undergoing Highly active antiretroviral therapy

METHODS: An observational retrospective study of all patients diagnosed of HIV infection and on HAART therapy from Jan 2007 to Dec 2012 was conducted at infectious disease department of Hospital Pulau Pinang, Malaysia. Patient socio-demographic details along with clinical features were recorded.

RESULTS: Out of 792 patients that underwent HAART therapy, 607 (76.6%) were male and 185 (23.3%) were female patients. Overall 144 (18.18%) patients had experienced TB as co-morbidity associated HIV/AIDS infection. A total number of 117 (81.2%) TB as co-morbidity were reported in male patients while 27 (18.7%) in female patients. On Chi-square test a statistical association of p0.14 was found between the gender and the occurrence of TB associated HIV/AIDS. Out of 144 (18.8%), 90 (62.5%) patient’s having age 30 to 50 years experienced TB as co-morbidity associated HIV/AIDS with a statistical association of p0.23 on Chi-square test. Furthermore, 81 (56.2%) patients was observed in Chinese and 35 (24.3%) in Malay ethnicity with statistical association of p0.87. The overall median follow up time of all patients was 36 months or 3 years (inter-quartile range 33.5-38.4). On Multivariate Cox regression, the overall survival was showed better after 22 months of the HAART therapy. However the survival function was better in female (HR 1.01, 95% CI 0.85 - 1.21, p 0.83) than in male patients (HR 1.03, 95% CI 0.85 - 1.25, p 0.70).

CONCLUSIONS: The study indicates the relation of age, gender and the treatment duration of HAART on survival function of HIV-TB patients. However, a multicenter study with a large sample size may provide us with better understanding of this relationship.