Evaluation of the Quality of Life Associated with Zidovudine Treatment in Asymptomatic Human Immunodeficiency Virus Infection

• Published in: The New England journal of medicine Vol. 330; no. 11; pp. 738 - 743
• Main Authors: Lenderking, William R, Gelber, Richard D, Cotton, Deborah J, Cole, Bernard F, Goldhirsch, Aron, Volberding, Paul A, Testa, Marcia A
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Boston Massachusetts Medical Society 17-03-1994
• Subjects: Acquired immune deficiency syndrome; AIDS; Anemia; Antiretroviral drugs; CD4 antigen; Clinical trials; Confidence intervals; Drug therapy; HIV; Human immunodeficiency virus; Infections; Laboratories; Medical research; Neutropenia; Patients; Public health; Quality of life; Side effects; Zidovudine
• ISSN: 0028-4793; 1533-4406
• DOI: 10.1056/NEJM199403173301102

Infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is chronic and results in progressive deterioration of the immune system and, eventually, death. Previous studies have shown that zidovudine delays the progression of disease in both mildly symptomatic and asymptomatic patients over relatively short periods of observation
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. As a result, zidovudine (at a dose of 500 mg per day) has become the standard initial treatment in the United States for HIV-infected patients with CD4+ cell counts below 500 per cubic millimeter. However, these studies were not designed to demonstrate the effects of treatment on overall survival, and recent studies have . . .