Cognitive function in patients with newly diagnosed HIV infection in a tertiary health facility in south – west Nigeria: Assessment using computer-assisted neuropsychological test battery

•Majority of the patients with HIV infection in this study were in advanced clinical stages.•Patients with HIV infection performed poorly on cognitive function assessment when compared to normal controls.•Anaemia is associated with poor psychomotor speed performance in patients with HIV infection.

IntroductionCognitive dysfunction is common among patients with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection however there are few reports from sub-Saharan Africa.MethodsWe studied fifty seropositive patients with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection along with fifty matched seronegative control. Medical history taking and general physical and neurological examinations were done for all study participants. Laboratory evaluations and chest X-ray were done for all the patients. The cognitive function was done with the aid of ‘Fepsy’ automated test battery for all the study participants. The data was analyzed with statistical package for social sciences software version 21.0 (SPSS Chicago IL).ResultAbout 70% of the HIV patients were in advanced disease stage. The auditory and visual reaction times, binary choice reaction times, and computerized visual scanning task time were more prolonged in the HIV group (p < 0.05). There were also increased memory accuracy and binary choice task accuracy in the HIV group (p < 0.05). However the vigilance task performance was similar between the two groups (p > 0.05). Among the patients with HIV infection, the presence of anemia and central nervous system toxoplasmosis infection was associated with prolonged auditory and visual reaction times.ConclusionThere was a high rate of cognitive dysfunction in patients with HIV infection in this study.