Retention in care of persons newly diagnosed with HIV: Outcomes of the outreach initiative

The purpose of this study was to contribute to the limited literature on newly diagnosed persons living with HIV/AIDS ( PLWHA) by describing their retention in HIV primary care and changes in barriers to care over 12 months of follow- up subsequent to enrolling in outreach interventions. Medical chart review and interview data were collected from 104 newly diagnosed PLWHA at baseline, 6- month, and 12- month follow- up. Almost all newly diagnosed PLWHA ( 92%) had an HIV care appointment in the 6 months post-enrollment. Newly diagnosed persons were more likely to have undetectable viral loads at 6 and 12- month followup compared to baseline with 45% undetectable by 12 months. Adequate retention in care ( at least one appointment in each 6- month window) was significantly associated with reductions in substance use and improvements in insurance coverage. Improvements in mental health status and the elimination of stigma as a barrier were not associated with retention, but those who reported stigma as a barrier at baseline and continued to report stigma at 6 months had less than adequate retention. These results suggest the need for early and intensive outreach interventions for newly diagnosed persons. Future directions include testing outreach interventions in a randomized clinical trial, and evaluating programs that integrate early HIV identification and intensive outreach to enroll and retain persons newly infected with HIV in care.