When beginning any course of treatment for a chronic yet manageable disease such as HIV and AIDS it is important for one to follow their HIV specialists advice, maintain a regular schedule of appointments, and strictly adhere to the pharmaceutical treatment regimen. These three practices establish early on a life-time of disciplines that one will require to effectively manage living with the HIV/AIDS virus. If ever there was doubt as to the importance of regular visits with one’s HIV/AIDS health care practitioner, those doubts can now be put to bed. A study has recently surfaced which has identified a causal link between missed doctors’ visits, and an increased mortality rate.

This analysis focused retrospectively within a group of HIV clinical patients who had established their initial outpatient treatment for HIV infection at the University of Alabama HIV/AIDS Clinic. All of the 543 study participants were evaluated between 2000 through to 2005. Patients who missed visits within the first year after initiating outpatient treatment were shown to have twice the rate of long-term mortality when compared with those patients who maintained regular visits, and attended all of their regularly scheduled appointments.

The results of the analysis showed that among those 543 HIV patients participating in the study, 60% of them missed a visit within the first year. The mortality rate in those patients who missed visits within the first year was 2.3 deaths per 100 person years. In contrast, the mortality rate for those who attended all scheduled visits and appointments with their HIV/AIDS practitioner was 1 death per 100 person years. Other factors such as age, overall health, and CD4 counts were all taken into account when comparing the risk factors and determining the overall mortality rate.

One thing is clear when reading the results of the study, and that is that mortality rates increase when skipping or missing regularly scheduled appointments. However, it is worthwhile to note the study’s authors posit that the nearly doubling rate of mortality is not a direct consequence of missing those appointments, but rather, are identifiers of those HIV patients who are more likely to exhibit behaviors which can lead to increased mortality earlier in life.