Abstract

Background: People living with human immunodeficiency (HIV) was estimated to be 21.17 lakhs in India. Early diagnosis,and early treatment with antiretroviral therapy (ART) have significant effect in reducing the morbidity and mortality in these,patients and also have a crucial role in reducing the occurrence of new infections in the community. Objectives: (1) To,find the prevalence of late presentation among newly diagnosed HIV reactive, (2) to identify factors associated with late,presentation, and (3) to provide recommendations to improve early diagnosis.
Materials and Methods: A retrospective,record-based study was conducted in the Integrated Counseling and Testing Centre (ICTC) center in a tertiary care teaching,hospital. Details of the individuals who have undergone HIV testing in the ICTC center between January and December,2016 were noted. All the identity details of the clients were kept confidential by creating coding for each of them. The data,were analyzed using descriptive statistics, and the results were presented in the form of percentages.
Results: A total of,777 individuals were tested for their HIV status in the year 2016, and 8.36% were found to be reactive for HIV. Majority,(36.9%) of the HIV reactive individuals were in the age group of 36–45 years. 35 positive clients (53.8%) were females,and the rest (46.2%) were males. 58 (7.46%) individuals were newly detected as having HIV, and the rest 7 have already,undergone HIV testing in other centers and knew their HIV status. Among the newly detected HIV reactive, 82.3% had,their CD4 count <500 cells/cumm and were eligible to receive ART. Conclusion: Late presentation to the health facility,was high (82.3%) among newly detected patients and hence improving early detection has to be given importance along,with other prevention strategies so as to ensure early treatment for HIV.