Effectiveness of an HIV care model integrated into addiction care based on medication-assisted treatment for HIV-positive people who use drugs. Issue 10 (3rd October 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Valencia, Jorge; Troya, Jesús; Lazarus, Jeffrey V.; Cuevas, Guillermo; Alvaro-Meca, Alejandro; Torres-Machado, Juan; Escobar, Ismael; Cañamares, Irene; Ryan, Pablo
• Is Part Of: AIDS care. Volume 34:Issue 10(2022)
• Page Start: 1297
• Page End: 1304
• Publication Date: 2022-10-03
• Subjects: Harm reduction -- antiretroviral therapy -- HIV integrated care -- opioid substitution therapy -- people who use drugs; AIDS (Disease) -- Social aspects -- Periodicals; AIDS (Disease) -- Psychological aspects -- Periodicals; AIDS (Disease) -- Patients -- Care -- Periodicals; Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome; 362.1969792
• DOI: 10.1080/09540121.2021.1967853
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0954-0121

Abstract

ABSTRACT: Our objective was to evaluate the effectiveness of initiated or reinitiated antiretroviral therapy (ART) in HIV-positive active drug users receiving integrated HIV and addiction care in a harm reduction setting. We performed a study of HIV-positive persons who use drugs (PWUD) in a harm reduction unit in Madrid, Spain. Participants received HIV care integrated into addiction care and received at least one dose of observed ART based on medication-assisted treatment between January 2013 and December 2019. Individuals newly diagnosed with HIV ( n = 13) had a greater median CD4 cell count at baseline were less likely to be late presenters, had a greater CD4 cell count increase, and were less likely to have AIDS in comparison to those who were aware of their HIV status ( n = 87) at initiation or reinitiation of ART. The overall VS was 73% in the intention-to-treat (ITT) analysis and 92.4% in the modified intention-to-treat (mITT) analysis. People who were engaged in OST, people with >90% adherence to ART, and older people were positively associated with VS in the multivariate analysis. An HIV care model integrated into a harm reduction facility demonstrated a high uptake of HIV treatment, retention in care, improvement in adherence, and achievement of VS.