[Clustering of cognitive domains among older adults with HIV].

Abstract

Background Age and HIV are synergistic risk factors for conditions such as HIV-associated neurocognitive disorders (HAND). Yet, it is unclear whether OAWH display different cognitive profiles for HAND. Objective To describe the cognitive patterns of OAWH treated with combined antiretroviral therapy (cART). Methods Cross-sectional study that included 330 participants with HIV, aged 50 years or older, cared for at a tertiary care hospital in Mexico City. A short neuropsychological test battery was used to assess a wide spectrum of cognitive functions. The optimal number of cognitive clusters was determined by the silhouette method and a minimization of the Bayesian information criterion. Results Participants' mean age was 58.8 years (SD = 6.6), and 12.1% were women. A 3-cluster solution yielded stable Jaccard coefficients (p > 0.70). Cluster 1 showed more significant impairment in visual and verbal memory domains, whereas participants in cluster 3 showed significant impairment in language, and abstraction. Cluster 2 showed no predominance of any domain for alterations. Conclusions There are different cognitive profiles among OAWH with HAND. These differences may be due to individual patterns of HIV-related and non-HIV-related factors.