Predictors of viral suppression among youth living with HIV in the southern United States |
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Authors: | Nicholas Tarantino Laura Whiteley Lacey Craker Larry K. Brown |
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Affiliation: | 1. Department of Psychiatry, Rhode Island Hospital, Providence, RI, USA;2. Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, Brown University, Providence, RI, USA nicholas_tarantino@brown.edu https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9995-9980;4. Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, Brown University, Providence, RI, USA;5. Department of Psychiatry, Rhode Island Hospital, Providence, RI, USA;6. Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, Brown University, Providence, RI, USA |
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Abstract: | ABSTRACT Youth living with HIV (YLH) in the United States (U.S.) face significant problems with achieving viral suppression, especially in the South. To examine this issue, YLH with a detectable viral load (N?=?61) were recruited from the southern U.S and assessed over 16 weeks for health and treatment factors. Participants were part of a smartphone-based intervention trial. Analyses focused on predictors of viral suppression controlling for intervention effects. Fifty-three percent achieved suppression. In univariate models, YLH who engaged in condomless sex four to 16 weeks into the study (odds ratio [OR]?=?4.00; compared to those who did not) and self-reported?≥?90% antiretroviral adherence in the first four weeks of the study (OR?=?25.00; compared to youth with <90%) had a higher likelihood of suppression. Shifts in adherence-related social support (OR?=?4.98) and appointments kept (OR?=?2.72) were also associated with suppression. YLH endorsing illicit drug use had a lower likelihood of suppression (OR?=?0.16; compared to those without use). Effects (except drug use) remained significant or approached significance in a multivariate model. Adherence promotion efforts should consider this population’s adherence-related social support, drug use, and risk for sexually transmitted infections. |
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Keywords: | HIV adolescent young adult adherence antiretroviral viral load |
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