OBJECTIVES The Korea HIV/AIDS Cohort Study has been conducted prospectively for 18 years. However, it faces limitations in representing the entire population of patients with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in Korea. To address these limitations and validate the study design, we analyzed characteristics across several HIV datasets.
METHODS
We compared epidemiological and clinical characteristics from 3 datasets: the Korea HIV/AIDS Cohort Study (dataset 1, n=1,562), retrospective cohort data (dataset 2, n=2,665), and the national HIV reporting system of the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) (dataset 3, n=17,403).
RESULTS
The demographic characteristics of age, sex, and age at HIV diagnosis did not differ significantly across datasets. However, dataset 3 contained a higher proportion of patients diagnosed after 2008 (69.5%) than the other datasets. Regarding transmission routes, same-sex contact accounted for a greater proportion of dataset 1 (59.8%) compared to datasets 2 (20.9%) and 3 (32.6%). The proportion of patients with CD4 T-cell counts below 200/mm<sup>3</sup> at HIV diagnosis was higher in datasets 1 (39.4%) and 2 (33.3%) compared to dataset 3 (16.3%). Initial HIV viral load measurements were not obtained for dataset 3.
CONCLUSIONS
The Korea HIV/AIDS Cohort Study demonstrated representativeness regarding the demographic characteristics of Korean patients. Of the sources, dataset 1 contained the most data on transmission routes. While the KDCA data encompassed all HIV patients, it lacked detailed clinical information. To improve the representativeness of the Korea HIV/AIDS Cohort Study, we propose expanding and revising the cohort design and enrolling more patients who have been recently diagnosed.
Summary
Korean summary
장기간 운영된 코호트 연구는 다양한 편향으로 인해 모집단의 대표성을 잃을 수 있다. 대표성을 높이기 위해서는 편향을 최소화하고 지속적으로 변화하는 임상 역학적 지침과 특성을 반영할 수 있어야 한다. 지난 18년간 운영된 한국 HIV/AIDS 코호트 연구에서는 코호트 연구 참여 기관에 방문하는 감염인 중 연구 참여자와 비참여자의 특성을 비교하고, 질병관리청 신고자료와의 분포를 비교한 결과, 코호트 연구에 참여하는 것만으로도 대상자 특성에 차이가 있음을 밝혔다. 이에 따라 편향을 최소화하고 대표성을 높일 수 있도록 코호트 연구 설계를 대대적으로 개편하고, 향후 지속될 연구 설계를 제안한다.
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