Missed Opportunities for HIV Prevention: Individuals Who HIV Seroconverted Despite Accessing Healthcare

Longitudinal Associations of Psychiatric Risk Factors with Non-psychiatric Hospitalization in a Large Cohort of People Living with HIV in New York City

Hospitalizations among people living with HIV (PLWH) are frequent and costly. This study examined the association between psychiatric, HIV-related, and demographic factors and hospitalization rates among PLWH using data from the Einstein-Rockefeller-City University of New York Center for AIDS Research Clinical Cohort Database. Of the 10,215 PLWH included in the sample, 45% had at least one non-psychiatric hospitalization between 2009 and 2018, with significant risk factors including prior psychiatric outpatient visits, depression, or alcohol-related disorder diagnoses, female sex, older age, CD4 count < 500 cells/uL, and detectable viral load. Additionally, 14% had an HIV-related hospitalization, with significant risk factors including prior psychiatric outpatient visits, alcohol- and substance-related disorder diagnoses, female sex, older age, CD4 count < 500 cells/uL, and detectable viral load. The study emphasizes the need for tailored interventions, including integrated treatment and comprehensive case management, for PLWH with comorbid psychiatric disorders, women, and older adults.

Characteristics of HIV Seroconverters Identified in an Emergency Department HIV Screening Program

The emergency department (ED) may represent a missed opportunity to proactively intervene upon patients at "high risk" for HIV. We sought to describe characteristics of ED HIV seroconverters (individuals who screened positive in the ED for HIV who had either (1) a previous prior negative HIV test in the electronic health record (EHR) or who (2) self-reported a prior negative HIV test) to identify a "high-risk" phenotype for pre-infection engagement. A retrospective chart-review was performed of HIV seroconverters at an academic, urban ED. General demographics, mental health illness comorbidities, and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)-identified "high risk" factors, including intravenous drug use (IVDU) and history of sexually transmitted infection (STI) were noted. One hundred thirty total patients were identified, 48 (36.9%) with prior HER-negative test and 82 (63.1%) with self-reported previous negative test. Of total seroconverters: 100 (76.9%) were male and 77 (59.2%) were between the ages of 13-34, comparable to national rates of new HIV diagnoses. Ninety-two patients (70.8%) were Black and 16 (12.3%) had a history of IVDU, significantly increased compared with regional and national new HIV rates (p < 0.05). Fifty-two patients (40%) had an STI within 1 year before HIV-positive screen, 67 (51.5%) had a history of mental health illness, and 77 (59.2%) were uninsured. This review revealed an HIV seroconversion population disproportionately affected by race, IVDU, mental health comorbidities, and additional social factors. The ED may represent a unique opportunity for at-risk, pre-HIV exposure intervention, particularly for vulnerable populations.

Health Profession Students' Awareness, Knowledge, and Confidence Regarding Preexposure Prophylaxis: Results of a National, Multidisciplinary Survey

BACKGROUND

Preexposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is a highly effective, pharmacologic method of HIV prevention. Despite its safety and efficacy, PrEP prescription remains low in those patients who are at highest risk for HIV infection. One possible reason for this may be the lack of inclusion of PrEP and HIV prevention discussions within the curricula of health professions education.

METHODS

An online survey was administered to a cross-sectional sample of future prescribers (osteopathic/allopathic medical and physician assistant students), future nurses, and future pharmacists (n = 2085) in the United States between January and July 2019 to assess and compare awareness of PrEP, PrEP education, PrEP knowledge, and confidence in 2 areas related to PrEP.

RESULTS

We show that, overall, awareness of PrEP is high among future health care providers (81.6%), with the future pharmacists reporting the greatest awareness (92.2%; P < 0.001) and more commonly reporting PrEP education (71.0%). Students had mixed knowledge of PrEP, with future pharmacists reporting the highest knowledge of PrEP. Approximately 30% of students in all disciplines reported having low confidence counseling a patient about PrEP and low confidence educating a colleague about PrEP. Knowledge of PrEP was a significant predictor of confidence counseling a patient about PrEP (P < 0.001) and educating a colleague about PrEP (P < 0.001).

CONCLUSIONS

This study identifies opportunities to improve and incorporate evidence-based strategies for educating future health care providers about PrEP for HIV prevention within health professions curricula.

Using a student-led, community-specific training module to increase PrEP uptake amongst at-risk populations: results from an exploratory pilot implementation

HIV incidence continues to be a significant global and domestic public health concern. Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is safe and effective in preventing HIV. PrEP uptake in the populations at risk for HIV has been slow and unequal. One reason for this is low levels of provider knowledge about PrEP. Prior training initiatives have focused exclusively on prescribers, which overlooks a substantial number of professionals who interact with patients. A novel method of training was designed and implemented by an interprofessional student team. The training module was purposely designed with community specificity about the patients at the highest risk for new HIV infections. Assessment of this training initiative occurred by query of electronic medical records to determine changes in the number of prescriptions for PrEP following the training intervention. Results indicate this student-led initiative was effective in providing education about PrEP, which translated to changes in PrEP prescription.