Did telehealth appointments improve HIV care retention during the COVID-19 pandemic? UChicago HIV HIVCare Telehealth Pandemic COVID19 SARSCoV2
By Dr. Chinta SidharthanOct 6 2022Reviewed by Aimee Molineux In a recent study published in AIDS and Behavior, researchers assessed how measures of retention in human immunodeficiency virus care have changed due to the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic.
Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome care requires retention to ensure the individual health of HIV patients and prevent HIV transmission in the community. About the study The present study assessed the retention measures during the pre-pandemic years and year one of the COVID-19 pandemic, at a medical care clinic in Chicago, Illinois, and explored how the inclusion of telehealth appointments affected these measures.
Data on demographic factors, comorbidities, in-person, and telehealth HIV care appointments, and the outcomes of these appointments were collected from the participants. Six HIV care retention measures were calculated. These included three missed visit measures and three kept visit measures. These measures were calculated separately for the pre-pandemic and pandemic periods and were further divided based on the inclusion or exclusion of telehealth appointments.
The authors noted that other studies found missed HIV care visits to be associated with concerns over food security, housing, mental health, and substance use during the pandemic.
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