Mortality and Risk Stratification of HIV Infected Individuals.

For the first decade and a half after the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) was first identified, the prognosis for most people infected with HIV was quite poor. Life insurance companies responded accordingly and insurance laboratories developed new means to test for the infection. However, it is now clear that people with HIV infection are living longer and that the majority of deaths occurring among those on treatment are now no longer due to AIDS-defining illnesses. This review examines the results of selected studies which analyzed mortality outcomes in those with HIV infection, the many factors which influence those outcomes, and the limitations in the data and in their applicability to an insurance population.