Women were at greater risk of HIV-associated cognitive impairment compared to men, a recent study found. The observational cohort study included 1,361 HIV-positive (204 women) and 702 HIV-negative (214 women) participants aged 18‒79 years from the UCSD HIV Neurobehavioral Research Program. Demographically-corrected standardized T-scores from 15 neuropsychological tests were used to calculate domain-specific and global deficit scores. Researchers found:

• HIV-associated neurocognitive impairment was more prevalent in women vs men.
• The association between HIV-seropositivity and higher likelihood of neurocognitive impairment was stronger in women vs men.
• These results were specific to black women.
• Higher rates of HIV-associated neurocognitive impairment in women vs men may reflect differences in educational quality.