HIV/Aids Relative Survival and Mean Residual Life Analysis BY XINJIAN ZHANG Under the Direction of Gengsheng (Jeff) Qin and Ruiguang (Rick) Song ABSTRACT Generalized linear models with Poisson error were applied to investigate HIV/AIDS relative survival. Relative excess risk for death within 3 years after HIV/AIDS diagnosis was significantly higher for non-Hispanic blacks, American Indians and Hispanics compared with Whites. Excess hazard for death was also higher in men injection drug users compared with men who have sex with men (MSM). The relative excess hazard of old HIV/AIDS patients is significantly higher compared with younger patients. When CD4 increased, the relative excess hazard decreased; while with the increase of HIV viral load, the relative excess hazard decreased. This is the first study to use national wide data to examine the significance of HIV viral load as a determinant risk factor of disease progression after HIV infection; The mean residual lie needs to be further analyzed. INDEX WORDS: Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS), Survival, Mean residual life (MRL).