Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2010 Apr 24;24(7):983-90.
doi: 10.1097/QAD.0b013e32833336c8.

Incidence and nature of cognitive decline over 1 year among HIV-infected former plasma donors in China

Lucette A Cysique  1 , Scott L Letendre, Christopher Ake, Hua Jin, Donald R Franklin, Saurabh Gupta, Chuan Shi, Xin Yu, Zunyou Wu, Ian S Abramson, Igor Grant, Robert K Heaton; HIV Neurobehavioral Research Center group
Collaborators, Affiliations

Incidence and nature of cognitive decline over 1 year among HIV-infected former plasma donors in China

Lucette A Cysique et al. AIDS. .

Abstract

Objective: To quantify and characterize the nature of cognitive change over 1 year in a cohort of HIV-positive former plasma donors in rural China.

Design: The present study is an observational cohort study.

Methods: One hundred and ninety-two HIV-positive and 101 demographically comparable HIV-negative individuals, all former plasma donors, who lived in a rural part of China, received comprehensive medical and neuropsychological examinations. At study entry, 56% of HIV-positive group was on combination antiretroviral treatment and 60.9% at follow-up. Multiple regression change score approach was used with the HIV-negative sample to develop norms for change that would be then applied to the HIV-positive participants. Follow-up test scores adjusted for the control group practice effect.

Results: Fifty-three HIV-positive individuals (27%) developed significant cognitive decline as compared with five (5%) HIV-negative individuals. Cognitive decline was predicted at baseline by AIDS status, lower nadir CD4, and worse processing speed; at follow-up, it was associated with lower current CD4 cell count and failure of viral suppression on combination antiretroviral treatment. Neuropsychological decline also was associated with decreased independence in activities of daily living. Using neuropsychological impairment scores that were corrected for 'practice' on repeated testing, we found that among the decliners, 41.5% (N = 22) had incident impairment, whereas 38% (N = 20) declined within the impaired range and another 20.7% (N = 11) declined within the normal range.

Conclusion: The present study demonstrates that despite ongoing combination antiretroviral treatment, cognitive decline in HIV-positive people is common over a 1-year follow-up. Regression-based norms for change on western neuropsychological tests can be used to detect disease-related cognitive decline in a developing country.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Percentage of NP change as defined by the summary regression change score in the HIV+ and HIV− samples
% participants who were classified as being stable or decliners on the summary regression change score (sRCS; 95% confidence interval, 1-tailed).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Comment in

References

    1. Antinori A, Arendt G, Becker JT, Brew BJ, Byrd DA, Cherner M, et al. Updated research nosology for HIV-associated neurocognitive disorders. Neurology. 2007;69:1789–1799. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Robertson KR, Nakasujja N, Wong M, Musisi S, Katabira E, Parsons TD, et al. Pattern of neuropsychological performance among HIV positive patients in Uganda. BMC Neurol. 2007;7:8. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Wong MH, Robertson K, Nakasujja N, Skolasky R, Musisi S, Katabira E, et al. Frequency of and risk factors for HIV dementia in an HIV clinic in sub-Saharan Africa. Neurology. 2007;68:350–355. - PubMed
    1. Yepthomi T, Paul R, Vallabhaneni S, Kumarasamy N, Tate DF, Solomon S, Flanigan T. Neurocognitive consequences of HIV in southern India: a preliminary study of clade C virus. J Int Neuropsychol Soc. 2006;12:424–430. - PubMed
    1. Cysique LA, Jin H, Franklin DR, Morgan EE, Shi C, Yu X, et al. Neurobehavioral effects of HIV-1 infection in China and the United States: A pilot study. J Int Neuropsychol Soc. 2007;13:781–790. - PMC - PubMed

Publication types