Clinical trial NCT01377272: Spatial Epidemiology of HIV Infection
Official title: Spatial Epidemiology of HIV Infection
Study type: OBSERVATIONAL
Overall status: COMPLETED
Conditions: HIV Infections
Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome
Keywords: HIV/AIDS
spatial epidemiology
geographic information system
HIV-infection/Aids
Lead sponsor: National Taiwan University Hospital
Sponsor class: OTHER
First posted: 2011-06-21
Enrollment: 1264
Sex: ALL
Standard ages: CHILD
ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: no
Time perspective: RETROSPECTIVE
Sampling method: NON_PROBABILITY_SAMPLE
Study population: NTUH patients

Brief summary: Data will be extracted from the National Taiwan University Hospital (NTUH) medical records database, geocoded according to the street address so that the case number, incidence, etc could be mapped. The spatial data would be used to detect the aggregation of HIV cases, existence of "hot spots" and then determine if they may merit further investigation or may have occurred by chance. The results from these GIS-based analyses would address local variations in HIV prevalence and transmission.

Detailed description: The transmission routes of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) are well known and many control programs focusing on risk groups and behavior have been undertaken. However, the risk factors of HIV transmission are not only at individual level (eg: demographic, behavior, and genetic risk factors), socioeconomic and environmental factors also take important roles. In Taiwan, few researches explored the spatial distribution of HIV infection. Studies in other countries observed a significant geographic variation in HIV infection. To understand the spatial pattern of HIV infection in depth, the present study aims to retrospectively investigate the epidemiological and geographic characteristics of HIV infection using the medical records database of National Taiwan University Hospital. A Geographic information system (GIS) and spatial statistics will be used to analyze the geographic patterns to determine whether spatial dispersion or clustering. There are two aims of this study. One is to investigate the epidemiology of HIV infection in Taipei City. The second is to analyze the spatial characterizes of HIV infection, including disease mapping, geographic correlation studies, and identifying the presence of HIV clusters and their potential spatial risk factors. In addition, we want to examine whether there are different distributions between different classificatory groups. Finally, we hope that our findings would give some direction for local health and policy planners to improve the HIV intervention and prevention strategies

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* HIV/AIDS patients of NTUH

Exclusion Criteria:

* HIV/AIDS patient whose address cannot be geocoded

Primary outcomes:
Secondary outcomes:
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Taipei
country: Taiwan
facility: Institute of Epidemiology, National Taiwan University
Study officials:
affiliation: Institute of Epidemiology, National Taiwan University
name: Chi-Tai Fang, ph.D
role: STUDY_DIRECTOR
affiliation: Institute of Epidemiology, National Taiwan University
name: Tzai-Hung Wen, ph.D
role: STUDY_DIRECTOR
affiliation: Institute of Epidemiology, National Taiwan University
name: Ann-Chi Yang, bechelor
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References: