Supportive Housing Promotes AIDS-Free Survival for Chronically Homeless HIV Positive Persons with Behavioral Health Conditions

We assessed the influence of supportive housing, incarceration, and health service use on markers of HIV infection for people living with HIV and serious mental illness or substance use disorder (SUD) participating in a New York City supportive housing program (NY III). Using matched administrative data from 2007 to 2014, we compared survivor time without AIDS, achievement of undetectable viral load, and maintenance of viral suppression between NY III tenants (n=696), applicants placed in other supportive housing programs (n=333), and applicants not placed in supportive housing (n=268). Inverse probability of treatment weights were applied to Cox proportional hazards regression models to account for confounding of observed variables. Individuals not placed in supportive housing had a significantly greater risk of death or AIDS diagnosis than NY III tenants [adjusted hazard ratio=1.84 (1.40, 2.44), p<0.001]. Incarceration and outpatient SUD treatment were significantly associated with negative short-term outcomes (time to undetectable viral load) but positive long-term outcomes (time to death or AIDS diagnosis). Supportive housing, SUD treatment, and incarceration were associated with prolonged survival without AIDS among supportive housing applicants living with HIV.