Derivation of factors associated with increase in HIV DNA I would just like to verify a statement made in the following paper: Peripheral blood HIV-1 DNA dynamics in antiretroviral-treated HIV/HCV co-infected patients receiving directly-acting antivirals
The authors state: "Factors associated with the increase of total HIV-1 DNA were analysed using univariable and multivariable logistic regression". They then go on to show a table, table 2, indicating the significant factors to this increase.
Now my question is, is this as simple as generating a logistic regression model with two dummy variables (i.e. whether or not there was an increase in DNA), and then identifying the significant factors ? Or is there more to it given that they are only interested in the factors affecting the increase of HIV DNA ?
Thanks,

The amount of HIV DNA is a continuous value (or at least approximately). And if one is interested in the effect of a treatment on the increase of HIV DNA, one should rather use a model with continuous outcome rather than logistic regression. E.g. you might deem a linear model to be appropriate. Then you identify the treatment, devise a model of the amount of HIV DNA that is linear in the treatment, make sure that the experiment is properly randomized or that you have controlled for all relevant confounders, and then the effect can be obtained from the fitted coefficient of the treatment.
