Do Gender Differences in Viral Load Predict Differences in HIV Disease Progression?
J. BLAIR*, D. HANSON, J. JONES, M. DWORKIN, D. SMITH, P. DENNING, A. MOORMAN, and K. DECOCK. CDC, Atlanta, GA. Background: Reports of different viral load (VL) levels among men and women at a given level of immunosuppression, the impact of these differences on HIV disease progression, and whether they are important in recommending gender-specific VL thresholds for initiation of antiretroviral therapy (ART) have been inconclusive. Methods: Our study population included HIV-infected, ART-naive men and women greater than or equal to 13 years of age who had at least one VL measurement. We analyzed combined data from four CDC-supported projects: the Adult and Adolescent Spectrum of HIV Disease Project (ASD), the HIV Epidemiology Research Study (HERS), the HIV Outpatient Study (HOPS), and the Viral Load Surveillance Project. We assessed differences in VL by gender using a CD4 -stratified multiple regression model (MR) with robust variance estimates. Factors in the model included VL assay typ
