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Retention in care may be higher than previously estimated in NYC
BOSTON — Among people with HIV in New York City, there were stable rates in retention and engagement in care from 2006 to 2010, but an increasing rate of viral suppression, according to data presented at the 2014 Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections.
The rates of retention of care and engagement in care may also be higher than previously estimated, using a different denominator that may more accurately reflect the number of people with HIV living in New York.
“We know everyone who has ever been here and ever received an HIV diagnosis or treatment here because of our comprehensive laboratory reporting,” Lucia Torian, PhD, director of the HIV Epidemiology Program at the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, said during a press conference. “We’ve got to figure out better approaches to know who is actually living in the city, and who has been in the city, but is not here anymore.”
Torian and colleagues measured trends in retention in care, engagement in care and viral suppression using two different denominators. The first was the crude national estimate of people with HIV in New York and the second was a denominator that was adjusted to more accurately reflect the number of people with HIV living in New York. They did this by excluding people with no HIV-related laboratory tests reported within 5 years preceding the analysis. The adjusted population (n=84,146) for 2010 was used to describe the outcome measures.
Using the crude national estimates, 64.7% of people were retained in care 2006 and 64.1% were retained in 2010. In 2006, 52.9% were engaged in care, and in 2010, 53.7% were engaged in care. In addition, viral suppression increased from 34.7% in 2006 to 46.4%
If the adjusted population was used, retention was 82.5% in 2006 and 81.8% in 2010. Engagement in care was 67.5% in 2006 and 68.5% in 2010. Viral suppression increased from 44.3% in 2006 to 59.1% in 2010.
“Our more accurate tab of people with HIV results in a retention of care rate of 82%, which is much higher than the rate reported by CDC and other jurisdictions,” Torian said. “We are looking at better news in New York than we previously thought based on our old-fashioned measure that accounted everyone that ever cycled through the city.”
For more information:
Torian L. Abstract #991. Presented at: CROI 2014; March 3-6, 2014; Boston.
Disclosure: Torian reports no relevant financial disclosures.