Title:Temporal Trends in the Epidemiology of HIV in Turkey
Volume: 18
Issue: 4
Author(s): F.S. Erdinc*, B. Dokuzoguz, S. Unal, S. Komur, A.C. Inkaya, D. Inan, I. Karaoglan, A. Deveci, M.K. Celen, S. Kose, N. Erben, G.C. Senturk, Y. Heper, S.S. Kutlu, C.A. Hatipoglu, S. Sumer, B. Kandemir, F. Sirmatel, Y. Bayindir, E. Yilmaz, Y. Ersoy, E. Kazak, M.T. Yildirmak, B. Kayaaslan, K. Ozden, A. Sener, A. Kara, O. Gunal, S. Birengel, A. Akbulut, F. Yetkin, N.O. Cuvalci, F. Sargin, H. Pullukcu, D. Gökengin and Multicentric HIV Study Group
Affiliation:
- Ankara Training and Research Hospital, Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology, Ankara,Turkey
Keywords:
HIV, AIDS, Epidemiology, Co-infection, diagnosis, fatality, HBV, HCV.
Abstract: Objective: The aim of this study was to analyze the temporal trends of HIV epidemiology in
Turkey from 2011 to 2016.
Methods: Thirty-four teams from 28 centers at 17 different cities participated in this retrospective study.
Participating centers were asked to complete a structured form containing questions about epidemiologic,
demographic and clinical characteristics of patients presented with new HIV diagnosis between 2011 and
2016. Demographic data from all centers (complete or partial) were included in the analyses. For the cascade
of care analysis, 15 centers that provided full data from 2011 to 2016 were included. Overall and annual
distributions of the data were calculated as percentages and the Chi square test was used to determine
temporal changes.
Results: A total of 2,953 patients between 2011 and 2016 were included. Overall male to female ratio was
5:1 with a significant increase in the number of male cases from 2011 to 2016 (p<0.001). The highest
prevalence was among those aged 25-34 years followed by the 35-44 age bracket. The most common reason
for HIV testing was illness (35%). While the frequency of sex among men who have sex with men increased
from 16% to 30.6% (p<0.001) over the study period, heterosexual intercourse (53%) was found to
be the most common transmission route. Overall, 29% of the cases presented with a CD4 count of >500
cells/mm3 while 46.7% presented with a CD4 T cell count of <350 cells/mm3. Among newly diagnosed
cases, 79% were retained in care, and all such cases initiated ART with 73% achieving viral suppression
after six months of antiretroviral therapy.
Conclusion: The epidemiologic profile of HIV infected individuals is changing rapidly in Turkey with an
increasing trend in the number of newly diagnosed people disclosing themselves as MSM. New diagnoses
were mostly at a young age. The late diagnosis was found to be a challenging issue. Despite the unavailability
of data for the first 90, Turkey is close to the last two steps of 90-90-90 targets.
