Neurocognitive Profile of People Living with Human Immunodeficiency Virus Initiating Treatment in Kinshasa in the Dolutegravir Era, Democratic Republic of Congo

Abstract

Context: Antiretroviral therapies improve the prognosis of NeuroAIDS contrasting with a high frequency of Minor Neurocognitive Disorders (MND) even in aviremic subjects. Objective: The objective of this study is to present the neurological and cognitive profile of People Living with HIV (PLHIV) initiating antiretroviral treatment in Kinshasa in the era of Dolutegravir (DTG). Methods: This is a multicenter, cross-sectional study with a descriptive aim carried out in 16 HIV Outpatient Treatment Centers (OTC) in Kinshasa from October 4, 2021 to February 15, 2022. The International HIV Dementia Scale (IHDS) correlated with the Activities of Daily Living (IADL) scale facilitated the categorization of NeuroCognitive Disorders (NCD) of PLHIV evaluated after carrying out a summary neurological examination. Results: Of the 96 patients recruited, 56.3% were women with a sex ratio of 0.68. The average age was 40.1 ± 12.1 years. The secondary education level was the majority at 64.6%. Malaria (44.8%) and tuberculosis (32.3%) were more common as opportunistic infections. They were alcoholics in (30.2%). Their history was heart disease (15.6%), high blood pressure (18.8%); drug abuse (10.4%). The IHDS score was light in 55.2% of cases. The correlation between IHDS/IADL