From the ArcaMax Publishing, Health & Fitness Newsletter:
http://www.arcamax.com/news/healthtips/s-364639-261762
DURHAM, N.C. (UPI) -- U.S. researchers suggest screening most adults
ages 55 to 75 for human immunodeficiency virus, or HIV, since many
seniors are sexually active.
Researchers at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, N.C., say
seniors may be overlooked as possible carriers of the AIDS virus and
are recommending screening for most adults ages 55 to 75 as a
sensible, cost-effective way to prolong life and decrease the spread
of the disease.
"Many of us might think of HIV as associated with teens and younger
adults, but statistics show that 19 percent of those infected were
diagnosed at age 50 or older," lead author Gillian Sanders said in a
statement.
Sanders worked with colleagues at Stanford University, the Veterans
Affairs Palo Alto Health Care System and St. Michael's Hospital in
Toronto to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of HIV screening among
older patients.
The study, published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, found that
assuming 0.5 percent of the study population was HIV-positive, the
researchers found that HIV screening for patients age 65 who were not
sexually active would cost $55,440 per quality-adjusted life-years
gained, while screening for sexually-active 65-year-olds would cost
$30,020 per quality-adjusted life-years. Sanders says such figures are
within the range of other accepted cost-effective ratios.