Neurocognitive profile of HIV-positive adults on combined antiretroviral therapy: A single-centre study in Serbia.

Neurocognitive profile of HIV-positive adults on combined antiretroviral therapy: A single-centre study in Serbia.

Appl Neuropsychol Adult. 2017 Jun 30;:1-10

Authors: Malagurski B, Bugarski Ignjatović V, Marić D, Nikolašević Ž, Mihić L, Brkić S

Abstract
The advent of combined antiretroviral therapy (cART) has prolonged the life expectancy of HIV + individuals and decreased the incidence of HIV-associated dementia. However, milder forms of neurocognitive impairment remain common and are often associated with poor daily functioning and lower medication adherence. This paper presents a research aimed at exploring the cognitive status differences between HIV + subjects (N = 39) on cART therapy and a group of demographically comparable healthy subjects (N = 39) in Serbia. The significance of differences between the HIV + group and the healthy control group in performance in six cognitive domains was tested using the multivariate analysis of variance. Results showed a lower performance of the HIV + group in the domains of attention/working memory, and learning. HIV-related clinical variables were not significantly associated with cognitive performance. An older age in HIV + patients was significantly related to a lower performance in all six cognitive domains, as opposed to healthy subjects, implying a synergistic interaction between HIV and aging, resulting in accentuated cognitive difficulties. Our findings suggest that even with the absence of a subjective experience of cognitive deficits and with a good basic control of the illness, a certain degree of cognitive deficit can be observed in the tested group.

PMID: 28665215 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

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