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 3645 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
Key words: Delay; Diagnosis; Human Immuno Deficiency; Treatment
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