Profile of Neurocognitive Functioning in Adults Infected with HIV

Abstract

Abstract Since the very beginning of the course of infection, HIV enters into the CNS and it is reflected through neurological disorders. The aim of this study was to assess and subsequently compare the neurocognitive functioning of treatment-naive adults with HIV Stage I, II & peer control. Cross-sectional Case-control study design was followed. 22 adults (11 in stage I and 11 in stage II) with HIV infection and 11 adults as matched control were administered various standardised neuropsychological tests assessing cognitive functions like verbal fluency, executive functions, memory and visuo-spatial ability. Data were analysed by computing Kruskal Wallis one way ANOVA by ranks and post-hoc analysis (with the help of Mann Whitney U Test). Results showed that adults with HIV infected had poorer performance on most measures of memory functioning, visuo-spatial ability, verbal fluency and some measures of frontal lobe functioning in comparison to the matched peer control group. Those with stage II HIV had more compromised functions than those in stage I HIV in overall frontal lobe functioning along with inhibitory control, conceptualization, mental flexibility and sensitivity to interference.