Rosemary Dray-Spira ^1*, Alice Gueguen ¹, Jean-François Ravaud ², France Lert ¹

¹ INSERM U687 - IFR69
² CNRS UMR 8559 - EHESS - INSERM U502 - IFR25

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: rosemary.dray-spira{at}st-maurice.inserm.fr.

	Abstract

Objectives. We aimed to measure the difference in employment rates between HIV-seropositive and HIV-seronegative persons and to establish whether this difference varied according to the HIV-infected persons’ socioeconomic position as defined by education level. Methods. We used data from the Agence Nationale de Recherche sur le Sida et les Hépatites Virales’ EN12 VIH: Enquête Sur les Personnes Atteintes study, a large cross-sectional survey conducted among a nationally representative sample of 2932 HIV-infected patients in France. Age-, gender-, nationality-, and education-standardized employment rates were estimated with the French general population as the reference. The differences in employment rates with the general population were computed overall and according to education level. Results. Compared with that of the general population, the overall employment rate was 25% lower (95% confidence interval [CI]=16%, 32%) among HIV-infected patients diagnosed before 1994 and 9% lower (95% CI=5%, 16%) among HIVinfected patients diagnosed from 1994 onward. The difference in employment rates with the general population was significantly higher among patients with a low education level. The employment rate of highly educated HIV-infected patients diagnosed from 1994 onward did not differ from that of the general population. Conclusions. HIV infection was associated with decreased workforce participation among those with a low education level but not among highly educated individuals.

Key Words: Chronic Disease, Epidemiology, HIV/AIDS, Socioeconomic Factors