Retention and Attendance of Women Enrolled in a Large Prospective Study of HIV-1 in the United States

Abstract

Objective: The objective was to assess study retention and attendance for two recruitment waves of participants in the Women's Interagency HIV Study (WIHS). Methods: The WIHS, a prospective study at six clinical centers in the United States, has experienced two phases of participant recruitment. In phase one, women were screened and enrolled at the same time, and in phase two, women were screened and enrolled at separate visits. Compliance with study follow-up was evaluated by examining semiannual study retention and visit attendance. Results: After 10 study visits, the retention rate in the original recruits (enrolled in 1994-1995) was 83% for the HIV-infected women and 69% for the HIV-uninfected women compared with 86% and 86%, respectively, in the new recruits (enrolled in 2001-2002). In logistic regression analysis of the HIV-infected women, factors associated with early (visits 2 and 3) nonattendance were temporary housing, moderate alcohol consumption, use of crack=cocaine=heroin, having a primary care provider, WIHS site of enrollment, lower CD4 cell count, and higher viral load. Among HIV-uninfected women, the factors associated with early nonattendance were recruitment into the original cohort, household income !$12,000 per year, temporary housing, unemployment, use of crack=cocaine=heroin, and WIHS site of enrollment. Factors associated with nonattendance at later visits (7-10) among HIV-infected participants were younger age, white race, not having a primary care provider, not having health insurance, WIHS site of enrollment, higher viral load, and nonattendance at a previous visit. In HIV-uninfected participants, younger age, white race, WIHS site of enrollment, and nonattendance at a previous visit were significantly associated with nonattendance at later visits. Conclusions: Preventing early loss to follow-up resulted in better study retention early, but late loss to follow-up may require different retention strategies.

Assessing the Overall Quality of Health Care in Persons Living with HIV in an Urban Environment

“…The RWP provides funding for the care of uninsured and underinsured PLWH and mandates improvements in the quality of care for PLWH. 6,9,25 In previous studies, uninsured PLWH were less likely to meet HIV-specific measures (retention in care, use of ART, and virologic suppression), [35][36][37][38][39][40][41] and nonprivate insurance was associated with more barriers to care. 42 It would therefore be expected that uninsured PLWH may meet fewer performance measures.…”

Smoking Cessation and Recidivism in the Women’s Interagency Human Immunodeficiency Virus Study

“…The WIHS methods, baseline characteristics, and participant retention rates have been described previously. 16–19 To summarize, between October 1994 and November 1995, 2,054 HIV-infected and 569 uninfected women were enrolled (wave 1). A second enrollment wave, between October 2001 and September 2002, added 737 HIV-infected and 406 uninfected women.…”

The Association of Human Cytomegalovirus with Biomarkers of Inflammation and Immune Activation in HIV-1-Infected Women

“…Detailed information on recruitment and data collection has been described previously. 35,36 Briefly, at semiannual visits, women undergo clinical examination and provide laboratory specimens and self-reported sociodemographic and behavioral information via surveys administered by trained research staff. Written informed consent was obtained from all participants in accordance with Department of Health and Human Services guidelines, after approval by the Institutional Review Board at each participating site.…”