Differences between men and women with HIV-related Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia: experience from 3,070 cases in New York City in 1987.

Although women make up the fastest growing group of persons with AIDS, studies of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected persons reported to date have included predominantly or exclusively men. We evaluated sex differences in sociodemographic characteristics, hospital characteristics, in-hospital resource use, and short-term mortality rates for 2,526 men and 544 women admitted for their first-episode of HIV-related Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia (PCP) in New York City in 1987. Compared with men, women were significantly less likely to be white (81% vs. 54%, p < or = 0.001) or have private health insurance (80% vs. 58%, p < or = 0.001), and more likely to be admitted through an emergency room (79% vs. 71%, p < or = 0.001) and receive care at hospitals that had less experience treating PCP (p < or = 0.001). Women were more likely than men to die in the hospital [33% vs. 24%; crude odds ratio = 1.56, confidence interval (CI) = 1.28-1.91, p < or = 0.001]. In a logistic regression model, the risk of death in the hospital was associated with age 60-65 years [adjusted odds ratio (AOR) = 4.19, CI = 2.13-8.21], not having private health insurance (AOR = 1.37, CI = 1.08-1.75), admission through the emergency room (AOR = 1.54, CI = 1.21-1.96), and receiving care at hospitals with less experience treating PCP (AOR = 1.63, CI = 1.15-2.30), but women were not significantly more likely to die in the hospital than men (AOR = 1.18, CI = 0.93-1.50). Poorer access to medical care as well as higher use of hospitals with less experience treating AIDS may account for the difference in mortality rates observed in women with HIV-related PCP.