Male to Female Heterosexual Transmission of HIV in Korea: Transmission Rate and Risk Factors

이성간 성접촉을 통한 HIV 전파율과 위험인자에 관한 연구: 남성으로부터 여성으로의 전파

Objectives: Despite the importance of human immunodeficiency virus(HIV) transmission through heterosexual contact, the features of heterosexual transmission has not been well studied in Korea. So we conducted a cross sectional study to determine the transmission rates in married couples and assess risk factors for male to female heterosexual transmission of HIV. Methods: 169 HIV-infected males and their female sex partners were recruited from 1985 to tune 1998. We examined female sex partner's HIV infection status and interviewed male index partners and their female sex partners about demographic characteristics and sexual practices. We analysed heterosexual transmission rate by epidemiologic characteristics, disease status and sexual practices. And we assessed risk factors for HIV infection by univariate and multivariate analysis. Results: 30 female sex partners were infected at enrollment, yielding an transmission rate of 17.8%. Among couples who had used condoms consistently, none of the female sex partners was infected with HIV. In univariate analysis the significant risk factors were full blown AIDS status (OR=4.1, 95% CI: 1.49-11.43) and low CD4 T cell count of index partners at enrollment (OR=7.8, 95% CI: 2.19-27.80). In multivariate analysis HIV-1 RNA levels was significant risk factor when adjusted by CD4 T cell courts and mean sexual contacts per month (OR=19.2, 95% CI: 1.03-357.59) Conclusion: The risk of male to female heterosexual transmission increased with advanced stages of HIV infection in the index male partners.