Project Description 

The overall goal of the Multidisciplinary Women's HIV Clinic is to recruit and follow a cohort of HIV-infected women in Puerto Rico to perform multidisciplinary research on HIV-related projects, including basic sciences, epidemiological and clinical studies. This clinic has 331 patients under active follow-up. A database that includes sociodemographic, clinical, behavioral and laboratory data was established and will continue to be expanded. A blood (plasmaand cell) repository is also part of the clinic concept and will be continuedand expanded. 

The longitudinal HIV Women's Clinic was established in 1987. It has been supported by the RCMI Program since 1991. As of February 1995, 510 HIV infected women have been evaluated at the clinic and a number of studies have been carried out. As of July 1995, a total of 331 HIV infected women are actively being followed. We have documented 50 deaths, and 139 subjects have been lost to follow-up. In the near future we will match our records with those of the Puerto Rico Demographic Registry to ascertain how many of those lost to follow up have been reported as deaths. Clinic staff includes a research nurse, a gynecologist, psychologist, social worker, consultants for psychiatry, dermatology, ophthalmology, nutrition and infectious diseases. 

Because most of the participants in our clinic are Puerto Ricans, this renders our cohort a unique ethnic group among women's cohorts in the nation. There is a lack of information on the relevance of some variables as they relate to ethnicity. Behavioral variables are associated with certain ethnicgroups (somatization, needle-sharing) and gender (women's lack of skills for sexual negotiation, biologic susceptibility of the female genital tractto HIV). Therefore, this cohort is appropiate to study gender-specific biologic, psychosocial and/or ethnic variables associated with HIV disease.In addition, a group of women has been identified and followed for 6 to 8 years and some of them may truly be defined as long term non-progressors. This is a group of patients that may be excellent subjects for specific research questions that relate to resilience and survival. 

In summary, a clinic for HIV infected women has been evolving into avaluable research cohort. There has been a maturation process because of RCMI support, in which components such as a data management center, epidemiology consultants, blood and specimens repository facilities, and multispecialty consultants have been added in the past years. 

Carmen D. Zorrilla, M.D. 

Project Director 

Associate Professor 

Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology 

Email: czorrilla@rcm.upr.edu

Brenda Valentín 

Biomedic Center II 

Center for Maternal Infant Studies(CEMI)Building 

"Centro Médico" Area