Differences in Selected HIV Care Continuum Outcomes Among People Residing in Rural,Urban, and Metropolitan Areas—28 US Jurisdictions |
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| Authors: | John A. Nelson PhD Anna Kinder MS Anna Satcher Johnson MPH H. Irene Hall PhD Xiaohong Hu MS Donna Sweet MD Alyssa Guido MPH Harold Katner MD Jennifer Janelle MD Maribel Gonzalez MSN Natalia Martínez Paz MA MPA Charlotte Ledonne BSN MA Jason Henry Theresa Bramel MHS Jeanne Harris BSN MBA |
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| Affiliation: | 1. Rural Health Committee, 2. AIDS Education and Training Center Program, Fran?ois‐Xavier Bagnoud Center, Rutgers University School of Nursing, Newark, New Jersey;3. School of Nursing, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Newark, New Jersey;4. Casper Natrona County Health Department, Casper, Wyoming;5. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB, Prevention;6. Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia;7. School of Medicine, University of Kansas, Wichita, Kansas;8. College of Medicine, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona;9. School of Medicine, Mercer University, Macon, Georgia;10. Department of Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida;11. Florida Department of Health, LaBelle, Florida;12. School of Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington;13. San Luis Valley Area Health Education Center, Alamosa, Colorado;14. Northeast/Caribbean AIDS Education and Training Center, St. Croix, US Virgin Islands;15. Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium, Anchorage, Alaska;16. College of Medicine, University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky |
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| Abstract: | Purpose The HIV care continuum is used to monitor success in HIV diagnosis and treatment among persons living with HIV in the United States. Significant differences exist along the HIV care continuum between subpopulations of people living with HIV; however, differences that may exist between residents of rural and nonrural areas have not been reported. Methods We analyzed the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National HIV Surveillance System data on adults and adolescents (≥13 years) with HIV diagnosed in 28 jurisdictions with complete reporting of HIV‐related lab results. Lab data were used to assess linkage to care (≥1 CD4 or viral load test ≤3 months of diagnosis), retention in care (≥2 CD4 and/or viral load tests ≥3 months apart), and viral suppression (viral load <200 copies/mL) among persons living with HIV. Residence at diagnosis was grouped into rural (<50,000 population), urban (50,000‐499,999 population), and metropolitan (≥500,000 population) categories for statistical comparison. Prevalence ratios and 95% CI were calculated to assess significant differences in linkage, retention, and viral suppression. Findings Although greater linkage to care was found for rural residents (84.3%) compared to urban residents (83.3%) and metropolitan residents (81.9%), significantly lower levels of retention in care and viral suppression were found for residents of rural (46.2% and 50.0%, respectively) and urban (50.2% and 47.2%) areas compared to residents of metropolitan areas (54.5% and 50.8%). Conclusions Interventions are needed to increase retention in care and viral suppression among people with HIV in nonmetropolitan areas of the United States. |
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| Keywords: | care continuum HIV metropolitan rural |
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