[Risk factors for the heterosexual transmission of HIV from man to woman: a Spanish multicenter study].

BACKGROUND

The aims of this study were to estimate the rate of heterosexual transmission of HIV in a population of intravenous drug users (IVDU), as to well as to identify the possible risk factors associated.

METHODS

One hundred thirty heterosexual couples were analyzed in which the male was seropositive for the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) with the only possible risk factor for the companion being the sexual intercourse with the case index.

RESULTS

The rate of global transmission estimated was 16% (confidence interval of 95% = 10-22.4%). The risk factors significantly associated to HIV transmission were: case index of over 30 years of age (OR = 3.1), clinical status IV (OR = 4.1), less than 0.8 x 10(8) lymphocytes/I (OR = 7), antecedents of sexually transmitted disease (STD) in the woman (OR = 4), and the practice of anal intercourse (OR = 3.1). In the multivariate analysis only the clinical status of the case index and the STC antecedents of the woman were statistically significant (p less than 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

In this study some of the classical risk factors for the heterosexual transmission of HIV have been confirmed, and the importance of decreasing the prevalence of STD in the IVDU collective in Spain has been corroborated to lower heterosexual transmission and, indirectly the vertical transmission of AIDS.