Background Dramatic increases in patients requiring linkage to HIV treatment are anticipated in response to updated CDC HIV testing recommendations advocating routine, opt-out testing. Methods A retrospective analysis nested within a prospective HIV clinical cohort study evaluated patients establishing initial outpatient HIV treatment at the University of Alabama at Birmingham 1917 HIV/AIDS Clinic between 1 January 2000 and 31 December 2005. Survival methods were used to evaluate the impact of missed visits in the first year of care on subsequent mortality in the context of other baseline sociodemographic, psychosocial, and clinical factors. Mortality was ascertained by query of the Social Security Death Index as of 1 August 2007. Results Among 543 study participants initiating outpatient HIV care, 60% missed a visit in the first year. Mortality was 2.3 per 100 person-years for patients who missed visits compared with 1.0 per 100 person-years for those who attended all scheduled appointments during the first year after establishing outpatient treatment (P=0.02). In Cox proportional hazards analysis, higher hazards of death were independently associated with missed visits (HR=2.90, 95%CI=1.28–6.56), older age (HR=1.58 per 10 years, 95%CI=1.12–2.22), and baseline CD4 count <200 cells/mm3 (HR=2.70, 95%CI=1.00–7.30). Conclusions Patients who missed visits in the first year after initiating outpatient HIV treatment had more than twice the rate of long-term mortality relative to those who attended all scheduled appointments. We posit that early missed visits are not causally responsible for the higher observed mortality, but rather identify patients more likely to exhibit health behaviors that portend increased subsequent mortality.

Few researchers have attempted to examine the mechanisms through which HIV-related stigma in the community is processed and experienced at an individual level by people living with HIV. We examined how the effects of perceived HIV stigma in the community on health outcomes for people living with HIV are mediated by internalized stigma and anticipated stigma. Participants (N = 203) from an HIV clinic completed self-report measures and their clinical data were obtained from medical records. Results suggested that the association between perceived community stigma and affective, cognitive, and mental health outcomes (self-esteem, depressive symptoms, avoidance coping, self-blame) are mediated by internalized stigma. Furthermore, a serial mediation model suggested that perceived community stigma leads to internalized stigma, which leads to anticipated community stigma, which in turn leads to lower medication adherence. The associations between perceived community stigma and interpersonal outcomes (social support, trust in physicians) were mediated by internalized stigma and anticipated stigma, again in a serial fashion (perceived community stigma leads to internalized stigma, which leads to anticipated stigma, which in turn leads to interpersonal outcomes). These results suggest that perceived HIV-related stigma in the community may cause people living with HIV to internalize stigma and anticipate stigmatizing experiences, resulting in adverse health and psychosocial outcomes—information that can be used to shape interventions.

Following HIV diagnosis, linkage to outpatient treatment, antiretroviral initiation, and longitudinal retention in care represent the foundation for successful treatment. While prior studies have evaluated these processes in isolation, a systematic evaluation of successive steps in the same cohort of patients has not yet been performed. To ensure optimal long-term outcomes, a better understanding of the interplay of these processes is needed. Therefore, a retrospective cohort study of patients initiating outpatient care at the University of Alabama at Birmingham 1917 HIV/AIDS Clinic between January 2000 and December 2005 was undertaken. Multivariable models determined factors associated with: late diagnosis/linkage to care (initial CD4 < 350 cells/mm3), timely antiretroviral initiation, and retention across the first two years of care. Delayed linkage was observed in two-thirds of the overall sample (n = 567) and was associated with older age (odds ratio [OR] 1.31 per 10 years; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.06-1.62) and African American race (OR = 2.45; 95% CI = 1.60-3.74). Attending all clinic visits (hazard ratio [HR] = 6.45; 95% CI = 4.47-9.31) and lower initial CD4 counts led to earlier antiretroviral initiation. Worse retention in the first 2 years was associated with younger age (OR = 0.68 per 10 years; 95% CI = 0.56-0.83), higher baseline CD4 count, and substance abuse (OR = 1.78; 95% CI = 1.16-2.73). Interventions to improve timely HIV diagnosis and linkage to care should focus on older patients and African Americans while efforts to improve retention should address younger patients, those with higher baseline CD4 counts, and substance abuse. Missed clinic visits represent an important obstacle to the timely initiation of antiretroviral therapy. These data inform development of interventions to improve linkage and retention in HIV care, an emerging area of growing importance.

Background Racial/ethnic health care disparities are well described in people living with HIV/AIDS, although the processes underlying observed disparities are not well elucidated. Methods A retrospective analysis nested in the UAB 1917 Clinic Cohort observational HIV study evaluated patients between August 2004 and January 2007. Factors associated with appointment non-adherence, a proportion of missed outpatient visits, were evaluated. Next, the role of appointment non-adherence in explaining the relationship between African American race and virologic failure (plasma HIV RNA >50 copies/mL) was examined using a staged multivariable modeling approach. Results Among 1,221 participants a broad distribution of appointment non-adherence was observed, with 40% of patients missing at least 1 in every 4 scheduled visits. The adjusted odds of appointment non-adherence were 1.85 times higher in African American patients compared to Whites (95%CI=1.61–2.14). Appointment non-adherence was associated with virologic failure (OR 1.78; 95%CI=1.48–2.13), and partially mediated the relationship between African American race and virologic failure. African Americans had 1.56 times the adjusted odds of virologic failure (95%CI=1.19–2.05), which declined to 1.30 (95%CI=0.98–1.72) when controlling for appointment non-adherence, a hypothesized mediator. Conclusions Appointment non-adherence was more common in African American patients, associated with virologic failure, and appeared to explain part of observed racial disparities in virologic failure.

Nurses and nurse practitioners require information on the health problems faced by aging HIV-infected adults. In this descriptive, cross-sectional study, we reviewed the electronic medical records of 1,478 adult patients seen in an HIV clinic between May 2006 and August 2007 to examine patterns of comorbidities, and immunological and clinical characteristics across each decade of life. With increasing age, patients were found to have lower HIV viral loads, more prescribed medications, and a higher prevalence of comorbid conditions, including coronary artery disease, hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, hypogonadism, erectile dysfunction, diabetes, peripheral neuropathy, hepatitis C, esophageal gastric reflux disease, and renal disease. Fortunately, with increasing age, patients were also more likely to have public or private health insurance and tended to be more compliant to medical appointments. With growing interest in aging with HIV, this study highlights the vastly different comorbidity profiles across decades of life, calling into question what constitutes "older" with HIV.