The International HIV Dementia Scale is a useful screening tool for HIV-associated dementia/cognitive impairment in HIV-infected adults in Yaoundé-Cameroon
Njamnshi, A.K.; Djientcheu, V.de.Paul.; Fonsah, J.Y.; Yepnjio, F.N.; Njamnshi, D.M.; Muna, W.E.
Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes 49(4): 393-397
2008
ISSN/ISBN: 1525-4135 PMID: 19186351 DOI: 10.1097/qai.0b013e318183a9dfDocument Number: 204414
As a baseline for a series of studies on HIV-associated dementia (HAD), we sought to assess the usefulness of the recently developed International HIV Dementia Scale (IHDS) as a screening tool for HAD or HIV-associated cognitive impairment (HACI) in HIV-positive adults in Yaoundé-Cameroon. The frequency of HAD/HACI is largely unknown in resource-limited countries. In Cameroon, few studies suggest that HAD may be frequent but no specific study had so far investigated the problem. We therefore used a case-control study design involving HIV-positive adults as cases and HIV-negative individuals as controls to determine the usefulness of the IHDS as a screening instrument. HIV-positive adults followed up in an HIV outpatient clinic were matched to HIV-negative subjects for age and sex and screened using IHDS. Overall, 204 HIV-positive individuals and 204 HIV-negative subjects were screened. The HIV-positive subjects had a significantly lower IHDS mean total score of 10.87 compared with the HIV-negative subjects with a score of 11.28 (P = 0.00). Abnormal scores (< or = 10) on the IHDS were found in 21.1% of the HIV-positive subjects and in 2.5% of the HIV-negative subjects (P = 5.0 x 10(-10)). These results suggest that the prevalence of possible HAD/HACI may be higher in Cameroon than the previous estimates and demonstrate that the IHDS can be used as a screening tool for HAD in Cameroon. We therefore suggest that all studies on HAD in Cameroon should strategically start with the IHDS as a screening tool.