No abstract

Introduction: the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) epidemic began in the 1980's. As there were no therapeutic options at that time, diagnosed patients evolved rapidly to death. With the implementation of anti-retroviral therapy in 1996, HIV infection became a chronic disease, which in many cases can make adherence difficult to the proposed treatment. Objective: evaluate the profile of patients monitored at the STD/Aids clinic of the Epidemiological Surveillance Division of Teresópolis-RJ, and relate it to the attendance at consultations rate, CD4 measurements, viral load, and death. Methods: this is a retrospective, qualitative and quantitative cross-sectional study. We analysed available medical records of patients diagnosed with aids at the Division of Epidemiological Surveillance of Teresópolis, registered from 2000 to 2010. results: patients with medical follow-up every 3 months had lower viral load and higher CD4 levels compared to those who were not regularly monitored (p < 0.01). Patients who died had less regular attendance at consultations, as well as a decreased time in the disease progression (p < 0.01). conclusion: there were a few differences between our data and those found in the literature, and the main disagreement is related to the prevalence of HIV/aids cases among female patients and a higher viral load in this group.