Original Research

Socio-Demographic and Behavioral Factors in Patients with DelayedDiagnosis of Human Immunodeficiency Virus: A Cross-SectionalStudy

Fahad Naim1
Khyber Teaching Hospital/ Khyber Medical University Peshawar
Awais Naeem1
Khyber Teaching Hospital/ Khyber Medical University Peshawar
Fahim Shah2
Khyber Medical University - Institute of Medical Sciences, Kohat
Umair-ul- Islam2
Khyber Medical University - Institute of Medical Sciences, Kohat
Sohail Adnan2
Khyber Medical University - Institute of Medical Sciences, Kohat
Muhammad Hamid2
Khyber Medical University - Institute of Medical Sciences, Kohat

✉ Correspondence: Fahad Naim Email: fahadnaim42461@import.invalid

DOI https://doi.org/10.70302/jpsim.v6i2.2528
Volume: 6, Issue 2 Pages: 146–152 Published: 05 Jun 2025
Received: 14 Aug 2024 Revised: 25 Jan 2025 Accepted: 26 Apr 2025 Published Online: 05 Jun 2025

Abstract

Objective

To find socio-demographic characteristics and behavioral factors of patients presenting in the late stage of HIV infection

Methods

This descriptive retrospective, cross sectional study was conducted at District Headquarter (DHQ) Teaching Hospital, Kohat Development Authority (KDA), Kohat from April 2020 to September 2020. Socio-demographic data was collected from patients record registered at HIV care center Kohat from either gender having age greater than 15 years with CD4 count at the time of diagnosis less than 350/mm3, or patient presenting with an AIDS defining illness on a pre-designed form. Descriptive statistics were applied to find characteristics of patients with late HIV diagnosis.

Results

A total of 152 patients had a CD4 count less than 350/mm3 at the time of diagnosis and registration at the HIV care center DHQ Teaching hospital. There were 87 (57.2%) males and 53 (34.9%) females. Majority of patients belonged to the age group of 31-45 years (40.8%), were unemployed (59.2%), married (63.2%) and were from area of Bannu (19.1%). A significant number of patients had a history of travelling abroad and were using smokeless tobacco while majority of patients didn’t know about HIV infection and never visited health care worker in last year before registration at HIV Care Center Kohat.

Conclusion

Delayed diagnosis of HIV is common in male, unemployed patients, with a history of travelling abroad and married patients with majority of patients having no knowledge about HIV infection. Public health authorities shall implement new methods of expanding the realm of diagnostic testing as well as targeting those populations at a higher risk i.e., unemployed, substance abuse history, uneducated and having history of travel abroad, will help in early HIV diagnosis, avoiding AIDS defining conditions and mortality associated with HIV virus infection.

Keywords
Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome Human immunodeficiency virus Viral Diseases Prevention Infections

How to Cite This Article

Naim F, Naeem A, Shah F, Islam U, Adnan S, Hamid M. Socio-Demographic and Behavioral Factors in Patients with DelayedDiagnosis of Human Immunodeficiency Virus: A Cross-SectionalStudy. J Pak Soc Intern Med. 2025;6(2):146–152. doi:10.70302/jpsim.v6i2.2528

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Conflict of Interest

All authors declare no competing interests.

Disclosed in accordance with ICMJE and COPE guidelines.

Funding

No specific funding was received for this research.

Funder information follows the Crossref Funder Registry standard.

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CC BY CC BY 4.0 This article is published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. May be shared and adapted with attribution. © 2025 Journal of Pakistan Society of Internal Medicine.
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