Objective: To estimate the median survival and the effect of antiretroviral therapy (ART) among HIV-positive former blood donors of Fuyang in Anhui province, China.
Methods: A retrospective survey was conducted among HIV-positive former blood donors, and data was collected on survivors who had received ART. Weibull function was used to calculate median survival of HIV-positive former blood donors. The effect of ART was estimated through comparing the actual number of deaths after ART with the expected number of deaths in those who did not receive ART.
Results: The median period of HIV infection was at the end of 1994, with the median survival of HIV-positive former blood donors in Fuyang as 10.8 years. By the end of September 2008, among 159 former blood donors, 74 received ART, with their mean CD(4)(+) T-cell count increased from 247.8/microl to 475.1/microl (P < 0.0001). 76 of the 159 former blood donors died. When comparing the expected number of deaths calculated by Weibull function, 31.7% of the total number of deaths was reduced.
Conclusion: Result from this study was in consistent to the UNAIDS' figures that in the absence of treatment, the net median survival time after infection with HIV was estimated to be 11 years and ART has reduced about one third of the expected deaths.