Memory status and selfassessment of asthenia in HIV-infected patients receiving antiretroviral therapy

Objective. To assess memory function and asthenia in HIV-infected patients receiving antiretroviral therapy (ART). Subjects and methods. In September to December 2021, a survey and testing were done in 73patients: 47men and 26 women aged 18 to 62 years. Their median age was 39.0 years; 69.9% of the respondents had higher and incomplete higher education; 21.9% had secondary specialized education. All the patients received ART; the median CD4 lymphocyte count at the time of the survey was 636.5 cells/μL. All the respondents had an undetectable viral load. The patients were given a subjective asthenia rating scale (Multidimensional Fatigue Inventory (MFI-20)). Auditory verbal memory was assessed using the results of tests for memorizing 6 words in a given order and 2 series of 3 words. Visual memory was evaluated by the results of a test for memorization of 6 figures. Results. The span of auditory verbal memory in direct reproduction was within the normal range in most of the subjects. At the same time, this indicator in delayed reproduction showed a more pronounced deficit than that in the direct reproduction. Under the complicated conditions for verbal presentation (the use of homogeneous interference), there was a substantial decrease in the ability to directly reproduce verbal stimulus information. None of the subjects was able to repeat 2 series of 3 words at 20 minutes after presentation. There was no evidence for a statistically significant effect of age, gender, a history of trauma, psychoactive substances use, and previous COVID-19 infection on auditory verbal memory function in the analyzed group of patients receiving ART. The most unfavorable level of asthenia self-assessment was noted on the lower motivation scale. Visual memory in the examined patients was better preserved than auditory verbal memory. Conclusion. When consulting on adherence to follow-up and treatment of HIV infection, it is advisable to use visual methods for information transfer more widely, for example, along with verbal ones, to employ written recommendations.

HIV infection, auditory verbal memory, visual memory, asthenia