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We evaluated COVID-19's impact on HIV care indicators among INI/FIOCRUZ's HIV Clinical Cohort in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: (1) Adequate care visits: two visits ≥ 90 days apart; (2) Adequate viral load monitoring: ≥ 2 viral load results ≥ 90 days apart; (3) Consistent viral suppression: all viral loads < 40 copies/mL; and (4) ART medication possession ratio (MPR) ≥ 95%. Chi-square tests compared the fraction of participants meeting each indicator per period: pre-pandemic (3/1/2019-2/29/2020) and post-pandemic (3/1/2020-2/28/2021). Logistic regression models were used to assess disparities in adequate care visits. Among 906 participants, care visits and viral load monitoring decreased pre-pandemic to post-pandemic: 77.0-55.1% and 36.6-11.6% (both p < 0.001), respectively. The optimal MPR rate improved from 25.5 to 40.0% (p < 0.001). Post-pandemic period (aOR 0.33, CI 0.28-0.40), transgender women (aOR 0.34, CI 0.22-0.53), and those aged 18-24 years (aOR 0.67, CI 0.45-0.97) had lower odds of adequate care visits. COVID-19 disrupted care access disproportionately for transgender women and younger participants.

Retention in early HIV care has been associated with decreased mortality and improved viral suppression, however the consequences of poor retention in early care in Brazil remain unknown. We assessed the effect of poor retention on mortality in a Brazilian HIV-infected clinical cohort. The analysis included ART-naïve, HIV-infected adults linked to care at the Instituto Nacional de Infectologia Evandro Chagas, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz between 2000 and 2010, who did not become pregnant nor participate in a clinical trial during the first two years in care (early care). Poor retention in early care was defined as less than 3 out of 4 six-month intervals with a CD4 or HIV-1 RNA laboratory result during early care. Cox proportional hazards models were used to identify factors associated with mortality, and Kaplan-Meier plots were used to describe the survival probability for participants with poor retention versus good retention. Among 1054 participants with a median (interquartile range) follow-up time of 4.2 years (2.6, 6.3), 20% had poor retention in early care and 8% died. Poor retention in early care [adjusted hazard ratio (aHR) 3.09; 95% CI 1.65-5.79], AIDS defining illness (aHR 1.95; 95% CI 1.20-3.18) and lower education (aHR 2.33; 95% CI 1.45-3.75) were associated with increased mortality risk. Our findings highlight the importance of adopting strategies to improve retention in early HIV care.

IntroductionPharmacy adherence measures such as pharmacy dispensing ratios (PDRs) have previously been shown to be predictive of virologic outcomes. We aimed to determine the optimal interval of PDR assessment for predicting virologic failure for HIV-infected patients on antiretroviral therapy (ART).MethodsUsing national Brazilian ART pharmacy refill data, we examined PDRs for patients ≥18 years of age with at least one HIV RNA level ≥180 days after ART initiation on or after 1 January 2011. Patients with a documented ART change ≤270 days prior to viral load test date were excluded. Logistic regression models were used to describe associations between virologic failure, defined as an HIV RNA level ≥400 copies/mL and PDRs, defined as the number of days index drug dispensed (non-nucleoside reverse-transcriptase inhibitor or protease inhibitor) per 180- and 90-day, interval preceding viral load testing, adjusting for sex, age, race, time since ART initiation and index drug. Backward elimination of insignificant variables was performed after adjusting for PDR. A predictive probability of virologic failure was calculated using the corresponding odds ratios for the PDR and any other significant variables. The diagnostic performance of the PDR interval was assessed by calculating the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC) for the predictive probability with respect to virologic failure. Results and Discussion A total of 1,025 patients were included (68% were male, median age 40 years, median time on ART 3.4 years). The PDR was found to be significantly associated with virologic failure for all of the PDR intervals (p < 0.001). There was an increased risk of virologic failure for all PDRs <0.95. The 90-180 days interval had a AUROC of 0.842, compared to 0.841 and 0.829 for the 0-180 days and 0-90 days intervals, respectively. The PDR performed well as a predictive tool to identify patients in virologic failure with the 90-180-days interval prio

Retention in early HIV care has been associated with decreased mortality and improved viral suppression, however the consequences of poor retention in early care in Brazil remain unknown. We assessed the effect of poor retention on mortality in a Brazilian HIV-infected clinical cohort. The analysis included ART-naïve, HIV-infected adults linked to care at the Instituto Nacional de Infectologia Evandro Chagas, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz between 2000 and 2010, who did not become pregnant nor participate in a clinical trial during the first two years in care (early care). Poor retention in early care was defined as less than 3 out of 4 six-month intervals with a CD4 or HIV-1 RNA laboratory result during early care. Cox proportional hazards models were used to identify factors associated with mortality, and Kaplan-Meier plots were used to describe the survival probability for participants with poor retention versus good retention. Among 1054 participants with a median (interquartile range) follow-up time of 4.2 years (2.6, 6.3), 20% had poor retention in early care and 8% died. Poor retention in early care [adjusted hazard ratio (aHR) 3.09; 95% CI 1.65-5.79], AIDS defining illness (aHR 1.95; 95% CI 1.20-3.18) and lower education (aHR 2.33; 95% CI 1.45-3.75) were associated with increased mortality risk. Our findings highlight the importance of adopting strategies to improve retention in early HIV care.

IntroductionPharmacy adherence measures such as pharmacy dispensing ratios (PDRs) have previously been shown to be predictive of virologic outcomes. We aimed to determine the optimal interval of PDR assessment for predicting virologic failure for HIV-infected patients on antiretroviral therapy (ART).MethodsUsing national Brazilian ART pharmacy refill data, we examined PDRs for patients ≥18 years of age with at least one HIV RNA level ≥180 days after ART initiation on or after 1 January 2011. Patients with a documented ART change ≤270 days prior to viral load test date were excluded. Logistic regression models were used to describe associations between virologic failure, defined as an HIV RNA level ≥400 copies/mL and PDRs, defined as the number of days index drug dispensed (non-nucleoside reverse-transcriptase inhibitor or protease inhibitor) per 180- and 90-day, interval preceding viral load testing, adjusting for sex, age, race, time since ART initiation and index drug. Backward elimination of insignificant variables was performed after adjusting for PDR. A predictive probability of virologic failure was calculated using the corresponding odds ratios for the PDR and any other significant variables. The diagnostic performance of the PDR interval was assessed by calculating the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC) for the predictive probability with respect to virologic failure. Results and Discussion A total of 1,025 patients were included (68% were male, median age 40 years, median time on ART 3.4 years). The PDR was found to be significantly associated with virologic failure for all of the PDR intervals (p < 0.001). There was an increased risk of virologic failure for all PDRs <0.95. The 90-180 days interval had a AUROC of 0.842, compared to 0.841 and 0.829 for the 0-180 days and 0-90 days intervals, respectively. The PDR performed well as a predictive tool to identify patients in vi

Retention in early HIV care has been associated with virologic suppression and improved survival, but remains understudied in Brazil. We estimated retention in early HIV care for the period 2000-2013, and identified socio-demographic and clinical factors associated with good retention in an urban cohort from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Antiretroviral therapy-naïve, HIV-infected persons ≥18 years old linked to care between 2000 and 2011 were included. Retention in the first 2 years post-linkage (i.e. early care) was defined by the proportion of 6-month intervals with ≥1 HIV laboratory result. "Good" retention was defined as ≥1 HIV laboratory result recorded in at least three intervals. Overall, 80 % of participants met criteria for good retention and retention significantly improved over the study period. Older age, higher education level and early antiretroviral therapy initiation were associated with good retention. Efforts to improve retention in early care in this population should target younger and less-educated HIV-infected persons.

Retention in early HIV care has been associated with virologic suppression and improved survival, but remains understudied in Brazil. We estimated retention in early HIV care for the period 2000-2013, and identified socio-demographic and clinical factors associated with good retention in an urban cohort from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Antiretroviral therapy-naïve, HIV-infected persons ≥18 years old linked to care between 2000 and 2011 were included. Retention in the first 2 years post-linkage (i.e. early care) was defined by the proportion of 6-month intervals with ≥1 HIV laboratory result. "Good" retention was defined as ≥1 HIV laboratory result recorded in at least three intervals. Overall, 80 % of participants met criteria for good retention and retention significantly improved over the study period. Older age, higher education level and early antiretroviral therapy initiation were associated with good retention. Efforts to improve retention in early care in this population should target younger and less-educated HIV-infected persons.