Background: AIDS in foreign migrants can have specific characteristics compared with that of Spanish patients.
Methods: Cross-sectional study, including cases from the Barcelona AIDS register diagnosed from 1988 to 1998. Global characteristics of migrants are compared with those of Spanish patients. Adjusted odds ratio (OR) with 95% confidence interval (CI) were calculated through logistic regression. A formal analysis was also performed.
Results: Among the 4,663 patients included, 5% were migrants. 33% of patients were diagnosed with AIDS 10 years after having migrated to Spain. They differentiate at the multivariate level by sex (OR [male]: 1.70; CI: 1.10-2.64), district of residence (OR [district I]: 2.07, IC: 1.50-2.87) and transmission pattern (OR [other than injecting drug users]: 4.08; IC: 2.77-5.99). No significant differences in survival were showed.
Conclusions: The percentage of migrants among AIDS cases in Barcelona is low. Migrants are more frequently men, more often live in the inner city and are less frequently injecting drug users.