Markov Chain Modelling Analysis of HIV/AIDS Progression: A Race-based Forecast in the United States

HIV/AIDS has reached a pandemic level across the world with more than 33 million people who are living with HIV. In the United States, more than half a million people have been victims of AIDS. This study investigates the most vulnerable racial minority population (the African Americans) in the United States and the second least affected (the Caucasians) in order to predict the trends of the epidemic. A Markov chain analysis was used to model the progression of the disease among vulnerable people, infective people and AIDS cases for the two races separately, based on the 2009 Centers of Disease Control and Prevention HIV/AIDS Surveillance Report. Based on the Markov model, our study predicts that the number of African American people living with AIDS diagnosis and HIV infection and dead due to HIV/AIDS will be 662.2, 1225.3 and 62.9 in 2015 and 794.9, 1566.5 and 79.2 in 2030, respectively. The number of Caucasian people living with AIDS diagnosis and HIV infection and dead due to HIV/AIDS will be 96.4, 160 and 6.5 in 2015 and 118.6, 206.9 and 8.3 in 2030, respectively. The numbers of deaths due to HIV/AIDS are quite stable over the years in both the races. There is an increasing trend in the number of people living with HIV infection and AIDS diagnosis in Caucasians compared with African Americans. The absolute number of Caucasians living with AIDS diagnosis and HIV infection is quite smaller compared with African Americans. The results reveal discrepancy in HIV infection, AIDS diagnosis and deaths due to HIV/AIDS among the African Americans and the Caucasians races. There is a need for interventions focusing on HIV/AIDS prevention and management, optimum resource allocation and development of antiAIDS campaigns to reduce the infection rate.