Capacity of lexical access in elderly individuals living with HIV virus

Introduction: HIV/AIDS frequently affects the Central Nervous System and may cause a cognitive decrease, and compromise the functions of working memory, especially the lexical access that affects the performance of daily activities. Goal: The purpose was to evaluate the ability of lexical access in seniors with HIV, in comparison with HIV-positive elderly. Method and Methods: Comparison of the performance of the experimental and control group, after the application of the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) and the Verbal Fluency Test (VFT) aFnd analysis of the correlation of TCD4 lymphocyte count, time of diagnosis and time using ART. This research was approved by the REC with opinion number 1000359. Results: The elderly with HIV/AIDS had a lower performance with statistical significance in the MMSE tests, obtaining an average score of 25.6 when compared to the control group that obtained the score of 27.6 and VFT. The average was 15.9 points for the experimental group and 18.1 for the control, showing a worse performance in lexical access in the HIV group. When correlating the tests with the TCD4 lymphocyte rate with the MMSE, they showed significance for improved performance and the shorter the time of diagnosis, the higher the scores. Conclusion: The low performance in the lexical access capacity of the experimental group when compared to the control group reinforces the importance of assessing and intervening early in cognitive functions to maintain the independence and quality of life of the elderly with HIV/AIDS.